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1  2  3 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

THE  BAPTISTS 


WHO  ARE  THEY? 


AND 


WHAT  DO  THEY  BELIEVE? 


BY 

W.  B.  BOGGS 
American  Baptist  Telugu  Mission,  Ramapatam^  India 


PHILADELPHIA 
AMl^KICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY 
1 701-1703  Chestnut  Street 


I 


INTRODUCTION 


The  present  publication  has  origin 
nated  in  the  thought  that  it  is  perfectly 
legitimate  and  proper  for  any  church  or 
body  of  Christians  to  make  a  public 
statement,  from  time  to  time,  of  what  its 
members  believe,  and  why  they  believe 
it.  Such  a  course  may  be  productive  of 
much  good,  in  enabling  us  better  to  un- 
derstand each  other's  position.  It  may 
save  us  from  false  and  uncharitable  views, 
and  from  unintentionally  misrepresent- 
ing one  another. 

Another  reason  which  has  led  to  its 
preparation  is  the  fact  that  much  igno- 
rance concerning  our  doctrines  and  prin- 
ciples is  frequently  manifested.  We  are 
sometimes  misrepresented,  and  doctrines 
are  attributed  to  us  which  no  true  and 
enlightened  Baptist  ever  held.  Although 
our  principles  are  plain  aad  simple,  many 
do  not  know  what  we  believe. 


The  following,  then,  aims  to  be  a  brief 
and  simple  statement,  by  one  who  be- 
came a  Baptist  from  principle  (having 
been  reared  in  the  Church  of  England), 
of  the  doctrines  and  principles  which 
Baptists  hold  most  sacredly,  as  the  re- 
vealed will  of  God.  It  is  not  designedly 
controversial.  Yet  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  discuss  denominational  peculiari- 
ties without  more  or  less  reference  to 
controverted  points.  It  attacks  no  one, 
it  upbraids  no  one,  it  ridicules  no  one. 
At  the  same  time,  I  must  claim  the 
privilege  of  being  free  and  unfettered  in 
discussing  principles  and  doctrines,  and 
in  appealing  to  history  for  its  verdict,  for 
truth  is  the  object  to  be  gained.  "  Prove 
all  things;  hold  fast  that  which  is 
good." 

I  address  myself  especially  to  thought- 
ful persons  who  are  willing  to  give  a  fair, 
unprejudiced  hearing,  who  can  give  due 
weight:  to  evidence,  and  see  the  force  of 
an  argument. 

It  will  be  observed  that  I  have  devoted 
considerable  space  to  quotations  from  the 
writings  of  eminent  men.     I  have  done 


this  because  of  its  manifest  importance. 
The  almost  unanimous  concurrence  of 
the  ablest  biblical  scholars  who  have 
ever  lived,  concerning  certain  principles, 
ought  certainly  to  have  greater  weight 
than  any  private  opinion  or  statement. 
In  making  such  extracts  no  unfair  ad- 
vantage has  been  taken  of  any  man's 
words,  /.  e,y  no  author  has  been  made  to 
say  what  he  does  not  say.  The  plain, 
deliberate,  published  statements  of  men 
of  learning  and  reputation  are  given, 
without  distorting  or  wresting  them. 

My  object,  then,  as  before  stated,  is  to 
set  forth,  as  I  may  be  able  within  the 
present  narrow  limits,  the  leading  prin- 
ciples of  the  Baptists,  and  ascertain 
whether  they  are  founded  on  the  word 
of  God  and  the  principles  of  the  Re- 
deemer's kingdom.  If  they  will  not 
bear  that  test  they  are  not  worth  hold- 
ing for  an  hour.  If  they  are  the  princi- 
ples which  Christ  laid  down  as  the  fun- 
damentals of  his  everlasting  kingdom, 
then  they  are  worth  more  than  all  hu- 
man knowledge;  yea,  they  are  worth 
dying  for. 


NOTE  TO  FOURTH  EDITION 


This  little  manual  is  still  called  for  ; 
hence  the  issue  of  this  fourth  edition. 
Several  cases  have  come  to  my  knowl- 
edge in  which  it  has  been  a  guide  and 
help  to  those  seeking  the  truth.  May  it 
be  so  to  others ! 

Believing  firmly  that  the  principles 
which  it  represents  are  in  accordance 
with  the  word  of  God,  and  therefore 
true ;  and  if  scriptural  and  true,  there- 
fore needful,  it  is  again  sent  forth.  May 
the  Head  of  the  church  accept  it,  and  if 
he  please,  employ  it  in  his  service  ! 

W.  B.  B. 

Ramafatam,  October,  1898. 


n 


CONTENTS 


rAGR 

Introduction 3 

I.  Our  Name 1 1 

II.  The  Infallible  Standard 13^ 

III.  Personal  Faith  Indispensable  ...    16 

IV.  A    Regenerated    Church-Member. 

SHIP 20 

V.  Church  Polity  .   .   ...   .   .   .   .   .    24 

VI.  Soul  Liberty 35 

VII.  Baptism — ^The  Design 40 

VIII.  Baptism— The  Subjects 41 

IX.  Baptism — ^The  Mode 60 

X.  Close  Communion 105 

XI.  Antiquity  of  Baptist  Principles  .   .116 
XII.  Baptist  Martyrolo  y 132 

XIII.  Our  Position 142 

XIV.  Statistics,  etc. 148 

Articles  OF  Faith  AND  Covenant    .   .   .   .155 


THE  BAPTISTS 

WHO  ARE  THEY  ?  AND  WHAT  DO  THEY 

BEUEVE? 


Our  Name 

The  name  "  Baptist "  has  been  applied 
to  us  to  distinguish  us  from  others,  and  it 
serves  as  a  convenient  designation.  In 
former  times  it  was  "Anabaptists,"  mean- 
ing rebaptizers,  because  then,  as  now,  all 
who  were  received  into  our  churches  on 
profession  of  their  faith  in  Christ  were, 
according  to  his  command,  baptized, 
whether  the  ceremony  of  infant  sprin- 
kling had  been  performed  or  not.  This 
term  always  was,  and  still  is,  repudiated 
by  us  as  unjust ;  for,  according  to  our 
views  of  divine  truth,  we  contend  that  it 
is  not  a  rebaptism,  such  persons  never 

having  been  truly,  that  is,  scripturally, 

II 


12 


baptized.  The  term  Anabaptist  is  rarely 
used  now. 

The  name  "  Baptists,"  as  nsed  by  us, 
does  not  imply  that  we  are  followers  of 
John  the  Baptist.  It  has  no  direct  refer- 
ence to  him  nor  to  any  other  human 
leader.  Nor  does  it  mean  that  we  make 
baptism  the  central  truth  in  our  religious 
system*  How  far  we  are  from  doing  this 
will  be  shown  presently. 

The  term  is  not  the  most  expressive 
one  that  could  be  used  to  designate  us ; 
for  merely  to  hold  the  views  which  we 
do  concerning  baptism  is  but  a  part  of 
what  is  implied  in  being  a  Baptist.  Not 
every  one  who  believes  in  or  practises 
adult  immersion  is  a  real  Baptist.  There 
are  great  underlying  principles  touching 
personal  faith  in  Christ,  loyalty  to  his 
word,  individual  responsibility  to  him, 
and  the  spiritual  nature  of  his  kingdom, 
which  we  regard  as  the  weightier  matters. 

We  have  no  real  name  but  Christians. 
But  since  Christendom  is  divided  into 
different  bodies,  there  must  be  some  way 
of  distinguishing  them  one  from  another, 
and  as  others  are  designated  Catholics, 


13 

Anglicans,  Independents,  Lutherans, 
Presbyterians,  Methodists,  etc.,  and  peo- 
ple choose  to  call  us  Baptists  in  order  to 
have  some  definite  distinction,  we  do  not 
object  to  it.  So  much  for  the  name — 
that  is  all  it  is  and  all  it  means. 


11 

The  Infallible  Standard 

The  great  fundamental  principle  of 
the  Baptists  is  this  :  That  the  word  of 
God  is  the  only,  all-sufficient,  and  infal- 
lible standard  and  authority  in  religious 
things.  They  demand  a  "  thus  saith  the 
Lord "  for  every  doctrine  and  rule  and 
practice  for  which  authority  is  claimed 
in  the  churches  of  Christ,  They  insist 
upon  unswerving  fidelity  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  without  adding  thereto  or 
taking  therefrom.  "  To  the  law  and  to 
the  testimony,"  is  their  motto.  In  place 
of  Canon  Laws  and  Rubrics,  and  Eccle- 
siastical Institutes,  and  Books  of  Disci- 
pline, and   Directories   "  by  authority," 


»4 


II 


they  regard  the  Bible  as  the  only  authori- 
tative statute  book  in  the  things  of  re- 
ligion. 

Surely  this  principle  is  the  only  safe 
one.  For  the  slightest  departure  from  it, 
or  the  adoption  of  any  other,  opens  the 
way  for  the  modification  of  Christ's  laws, 
or  even  their  abolition,  and  the  substitu- 
tion of  human  laws,  resulting  in  unlim- 
ited changes  of  faith  and  practice. 

This  principle  commends  itself  as  one 
of  prime  importance,  and  requiring  the 
strictest  adherence.  For  if  the  Bible  is 
not  all-sufficient,  and  additional  regula- 
tions have  to  be  made,  who  shall  make 
them?  Wise  men  differ  widely.  The 
learned  of  one  age  might  repudiate  the 
principles  adopted  by  those  of  a  formei 
age.  One  council  might  ignore  the  de- 
crees of  another ;  and  thus  endless  con- 
fusion must  ensue.  Let  the  dissensions 
and  distractions  of  Christendom  be  the 
forcible,  yet  sad  illustration.  Besides  all 
this,  God  has  said,  "the  wisdom  of  this 
world  is  foolishness  with  God."  The 
Lord  alone  is  the  rightful  lawgiver  of 
his  church.     His  people  are  not  at  lib- 


15 


erty  to  make  laws ;  their  duty  is  simply 
to  execute  and  obey  those  already  made 
by  the  great  Legislator.  What  he  has 
laid  down  they  are  to  observe ;  what  he 
has  not  enacted  they  may  not  demand. 

It  is  thus  that  Baptists  hold  the  head- 
ship of  Christ.  They  really  and  prac- 
tically hold  him  as  the  "  Head  over  all 
things  to  the  church,"  "that  in  all 
things  he  might  have  the  pre-eminence." 

They  believe  that  no  command  of 
Christ  is  non-essential.  There  is  much 
talk  about  essentials  and  non-essentials. 
But  how  can  any  command,  or  even  the 
slightest  intimation  of  the  will  of  the 
all-glorious  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of 
lords,  the  Redeemer  and  Head  of  the 
church,  be  unimportant  ?  Every  word  of 
his  is  pregnant  with  meaning  and  weighty 
with  authority. 

This  principle  has  not  always  been 
firmly  held.  If  it  had  been  unswervingly 
adhered  to  from  the  beginning,  Christian- 
ity would  doubtless  have  been  saved  very 
largely  from  corruption  and  division,  and 
a  complete  return  to  it  now  would  tend 
greatly  to  the  unity  of  all  believers. 


s,,,^ 


tn 


i  I 


m 

Personal  Faith  Indispensable 

Another  foundation  principle  of  the 
Baptists,  and  one  in  whicli  they  differ 
from  all  the  leading  sects  of  Christians, 
is  this :  That  personal  faith  in  Christ  is 
the  great  fundamental  requirement  and 
prerequisite  to  all  church  ordinances. 
They  hold  that  none  but  those  who  have 
believed  in  Jesus  to  the  saving  of  the 
soul  are  qualified  for  either  of  the  sacra- 
ments of  Christ,  or  for  membership  in 
his  church.  We  are  thus  led  to  the  con- 
clusion that  ordinances  are  unmeaning 
and  useless  forms  without  faith  in  Christ 
on  the  part  of  the  candidate  himself. 
Rivers  of  water  cannot  wash  away  his 
sin ;  the  sacred  Supper  cannot  originate 
the  first  impulse  of  spiritual  life. 

Faith  must  be  placed  at  the  very 
threshold  of  religion.  Previous  to  re- 
pentance and  faith,  man  is  an  enemy 
against  God.  How  then  can  the  exer- 
cises of  religion  on  the  part  of  such  a 
one  be  acceptable  to  him  ?    Faith  is  in- 


dispensable ;  nothing  can  be  substituted 
for  it ;  nothing  can  be  given  as  an  equiv- 
alent ;  its  absence  must  render  void  all 
ceremonies.  And  it  must  be  personal 
faith.  Proxy  is  inadmissible.  "Every 
one  of  us  shall  give  account  of  himself 
to  God." 

From  this  principle  results  our  posi- 
tive and  oft-repeated  denial  that  we  be- 
lieve baptism  to  be  a  saving  ordinance. 
There  are  none  who  are  so  determinedly 
opposed  to  this  deadly  error  as  Baptists. 
And  yet  there  are  persons,  intelligent 
and  well  informed  in  other  things,  who 
say,  either  through  ignorance  or  malice, 
"  Oh,  the  Baptists  believe  that  you  cannot 
be  saved  unless  you  are  dipped  ! "  And 
this  statement  sometimes  comes  from  the 
pulpit.  There  never  was  a  charge  made 
more  utterly  and  absolutely  false.  They 
no  more  believe  that  than  they  believe 
one  cannot  be  saved  without  the  I^ord*s 
Supper. 

It  is  not  the  Baptists  who,  when  one  is 
taken  suddenly  ill,  hurry  away  for  a  min- 
ister to  come  and  baptize  him.  Baptism 
with  us  is  a  profession  of  faith  already 

B. 


::.i 


i8 


I    I 


possessed,  and  we  refuse  to  baptize  any 
but  those  who  declare  their  faith  in 
Christ,  and  their  belief  that  they  have 
been  bom  again,  and  their  solemn  deter- 
mination to  follow  and  serve  him.  We 
baptize  not  because  it  is  saving,  but  be- 
cause it  is  commanded. 

Whether  others  regard  it  as  really  a 
saving  ordinance,  or  as  having  some  mys- 
terious sort  of  saving  influence,  or  at 
least  as  being  a  channel  of  grace,  let 
their  own  statements  declare. 

The  late  Rev.  Henry  Melvill,  of  Lon- 
don, a  representative  Episcopalian,  with 
the  Prayer-book  open  in  his  hand,  says : 
"We  really  think  that  no  fair,  no 
straightforward  dealing,  can  get  rid  of 
the  conclusion  that  the  church  holds 
what  is  called  Baptismal  Regeneration. 
You  may  dislike  the  doctrine,  you  may 
wish  to  have  it  expunged  from  the 
Prayer-book,  but  so  long  as  I  subscribe 
to  that  Prayer-book,  and  so  long  as  I 
ofl&ciate  according  to  the  forms  of  that 
Prayer-book,  I  do  not  see  how  I  can  be 
commonly  honest  and  deny  that  every 
baptized  person  is  on  that  account  regen- 


19 

erate." — MelvilVs  Sermons^  Vol.  II.,  p. 
306. 

The  "  Augsburg  Confession  of  Faith," 
the  Lutheran  standard  of  doctrine,  dis- 
tinctly declares  baptism  to  be  necessary 
to  salvation,  and  that  through  it  infants 
become  children  of  God  (Art.  9). 

The  "  Westminster  Confession  of 
Faith  "  declares  baptism  to  be  unto  the 
party  baptized  "  a  sign  and  seal  of  the 
covenant  of  grace,  of  his  ingrafting  into 
Christ,  of  regeneration,  of  remission  of 
sins,"  etc.  And  yet  it  is  applied,  by 
those  who  hold  this  creed,  to  persons 
who  do  not  and  cannot  believe,  so  that 
it  signifies  in  such  cases,  "  ingrafting  into 
Christ,  regeneration,  and  remission  of 
sins,"  without  personal  faith. 

In  Wesley's  "  Doctrinal  Tracts,"  pp. 
246-259,  he  says :  "  By  baptism  we  who 
were  *by  nature  children  of  wrath,'  are 
made  the  children  of  God,"  and  much 
more  to  the  same  effect. 

Baptists  unequivocally  deny,  both  in 
their  declarations  of  faith  and  by  their 
practice,  that  they  believe  baptism  to  be 
a  saving  ordinance. 


ao 


This  principle,  viz.,  the  absolute  ne- 
cessity of  personal  faith  before  all  ordi- 
nances and  church  engagements  and  rela- 
tionships, is  of  the  greatest  moment,  and 
cannot  be  insisted  on  too  earnestly.  On 
it  the  spirituality  of  the  church  and  the 
welfare  of  souls,  in  one  sense,  depend. 
That  it  is,  to  a  lamentable  extent,  over- 
looked or  made  void  by  various  bodies 
of  Christians,  is  only  too  evident.  Some 
who  profess  to  hold  it,  practically  ignore 
it.  Wherever  infant  baptism  is  practised, 
this  principle  is  violated. 


i    !! 


m 


IV 


A  Regenerated  Church-membership 

Another  Baptist  principle,  closely  allied 
to  the  preceding  one,  is  as  follows:  A 
church  of  Christ,  according  to  his  word, 
should  be  composed  only  of  regenerated 
persons ;  not  those  who  are  merely  moral 
and  respectable;  not  those  who  are  but 
seekers  after  salvation;  not  those  who 
can  repeat  certain  creeds  and  catechisms ; 


21 


not  regenerated  persons  and  their  off- 
spring, but  those  alone  who  make  a  cred- 
ible profession  of  conversion. 

All  the  references  to  Christian  churches 
throughout  the  New  Testament  imply 
that  they  were  companies  of  belie verc, 
persons  who  had  become  "  new  creatures  " 
in  Christ  Jesus.  The  apostolic  Epistles 
begin  with  such  salutations  as  these :  **  To 
all  that  be  in  Rome,  beloved  of  God, 
called  to  be  saints"  ;  "Unto  the  church 
of  God  which  is  at  Corinth,  to  them  that 
are  sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus,  called  to  be 
saints,"  etc. ;  "  To  the  saints  which  are  at 
Ephesus,  and  to  the  faithful  in  Christ 
Jesus " ;  "  To  all  the  saints  in  Christ 
Jesus  which  are  at  Philippi,  with  the 
bishops  and  deacons " ;  "To  the  saints 
and  faithful  brethren  in  Christ,  which 
are  at  Colosse." 

Now,  when  vital  union  with  Christ 
and  a  consequent  renewal  of  heart  and 
life  are  not  made  the  prime  and  indis- 
pensable qualifications  for  membership 
in  a  church,  the  scriptural  standard  is 
lowered,  and  the  principle  here  laid  down 
is  abandoned.     This  principle  is  ignored 


MJ! 


23 


wherever  persons  are  received  intoc'nurch- 
tnembership  because  they  have  arrived  at 
a  certain  age,  or  because  they  have  re- 
ceived a  certain  amount  of  religious  in- 
struction, or  because  their  parents  are 
religious,  or  because  they  are  highly  re- 
spectable and  possess  means  and  influ- 
ence, and  can  therefore  contribute  largely 
to  the  support  of  the  church.  A  scrip- 
tural church,  under  such  conditions,  is  a 
dream. 

A  regenerated  church-membership  and 
infant  baptism  are  irreconcilable.  They 
are  directly  opposed  to  and  subversive  of 
each  other.  Because,  by  infant  baptism, 
persons  are  brought  into  the  church,  un- 
consciously and  involuntarily,  who  may 
never  be  bom  again.  But  they  are  mem- 
bers of  the  church.  This  has  been  main- 
tained over  and  over  again  by  leading 
Pedobaptists.  Large  numbers,  therefore, 
are  brought  into  the  church  in  this  way 
who  may  never  possess  any  vital  godli- 
ness; and  whose  conversion  is  rendered 
less  probable  by  the  fact  that  something 
was  done  for  them  in  their  infancy,  which 
they  are  in  danger  of  regarding  as  in 


it 


some  sense  a  spiritual  benefit,  if  not  an 
actual  substitute  for  the  new  birth.  In 
fact,  in  some  denominations  they  are 
taught  that  it  is  the  new  birth.  Why 
should  one  think  conversion  necessary, 
when  he  is  taught  from  his  childhood,  as 
the  writer  was,  that  in  baptism  he  was 
made  "a  member  of  Christ,  a  child  of 
God,  and  an  inheritor  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven"?  How  unmeaning  to  preach 
to  "a  member  of  Christ"  the  necessity  of 
being  born  again !  He  might  well  reply 
"I  am  an  inheritor  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven ;  the  church  made  me  such ;  go 
and  preach  repentance  and  regeneration 
to  those  who  need  it."  How  can  a  re- 
generated church-membership  be  even 
approximately  realized  under  such  cir- 
cumstances? 

It  is  not  claimed  that  the  membership 
of  all  Baptist  churches  is  entirely  pure. 
They  doubtless  include  some  who  have 
never  known  Christ  by  faith.  But,  while 
this  is  to  be  deplored,  it  cannot  be  won- 
dered at  when  we  remember  that  even 
under  the  eyes  of  the  apostles,  false  pro- 
fessors, such  as  Simon  Magus,  crept  into 


24 

the  church.  But  there  is  a  vast  differ- 
ence between  unknowingly  receiving 
some  who,  although  solemnly  professing 
faith  in  Christ  and  a  change  of  heart  are 
nevertheless  unrenewed,  there  is,  I  say, 
a  great  difference  between  this  and  know- 
ingly, deliberately,  and  purposely  intro- 
ducing large  numbers  in  their  natural, 
unrenewed  state,  into  the  church.  If 
unconverted  persons  come  into  the  fel- 
lowship of  our  rhurches,  it  is  not  the 
fault  of  our  principles.  We  receive  those 
only  who  make  what  we  believe  to  be  a 
sincere  and  honest  profession  of  saving 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 


Church  Polity 

Baptists  hold  that  a  Christian  church 
is,  according  to  the  New  Testament,  a 
company  of  true  believers  in  Christ,  who, 
having  been  baptized,  mutually  band 
themselves  together  to  observe  the  ordi- 
nances of  Christ,  to  walk  in  the  fellow- 
ship of  the  gospel,  to  maintain  a  godly 


life,  to  uphold  the  worship  of  God,  to 
glorify  his  name,  and  to  seek  the  exten- 
sion of  his  kingdom  throughout  the 
world. 

In  the  matter  of  church  government. 
Baptists  believe  that  each  separate  and 
individual  church  is  independent  of  the 
authority  of  all  other  churches,  persons, 
and  bodies  of  men,  either  civil  or  ecclesi- 
astical, and  that  its  affairs  are  to  be  ad- 
ministered by  its  own  members,  under 
the  authority  of  Christ.  This  is  generally 
known  as  the  congregational  form  of 
church  polity. 

The  use  of  the  word  church  in  the 
New  Testament  is  instructive  on  this 
point.  We  find  it  frequently  used  in  the 
plural,  the  "  churches."  When  it  is  em- 
ployed in  the  singular,  it  generally  refers 
to  a  particular  company  of  believers,  in  a 
certain  place,  ^.^.,  "The  church  that  was 
at  Antioch  " ;  "  the  church  of  Ephesns  " ; 
"  the  church  in  Smyrna,"  etc.  In  the 
other  cases  where  it  occurs  in  the  singu- 
lar, it  plainly  refers  to  the  whole  number 
of  Christ's  people,  considered  collectively, 
but  evidently  never  means  a  large  eccle 


J 


111 


26 

siastical  organization,  embracing  a  num- 
ber of  churches,  such  as  those  of  a  whole 
country  or  province.  We  find  no  ex- 
pression in  Scripture  corresponding  to 
such  terms  as  the  "  Church  of  England," 
or  the  "Church  of  Scotland,"  or  "the 

Church  of  the  United  States."   We 

do  not  here  read  of  the  Church  of  Judea, 
or  the  Church  of  Galatia,  or  the  Church 
of  Macedonia,  but  the  churches  of  Judea, 
etc.  "Then  had  the  churches  rest 
throughout  all  Judea  and  Galilee  and 
Samaria,"  etc.  (Acts  9 :  31) ;  "And  so  were 
the  churches  established  in  the  faith" 
(Acts  16:5).  Paul  speaks  of  "  all  the 
churches  of  the  Gentiles  "  (Rom.  16:4), 
and  "the  churches  of  God"  (i  Cor.  11  : 
16).  Again  he  says,  "And  so  ordain  I  in 
all  the  churches"  (i  Cor.  7  :  17),  not  in 
the  whole  church ;  and  "  that  which 
Cometh  upon  me  daily,  the  care,"  not 
of  the  whole  church,  but  "of  all  the 
churches"  (2  Cor.  11  :  28). 

We  find  in  the  New  Testament  nothing 
of  the  nature  of  ecclesiastical  courts,  as 
they  are  called,  exercising  jurisdiction 
and  authority  over  churches.     Our  I^ord 


mm 


'! 


1  27 

Jesus  Christ  in  his  directions  for  the 
treatment  of  offenses  (Matt.  i8)  recog- 
nizes the  church  (evidently  the  individual 
church  to  which  the  offender  belongs)  as 
the  ultimate  tribunal  of  appeal,  and  its 
action  as  final.  He  says,  when  the  pre- 
vious steps  have  failed,  "  tell  it  unto  the 
church."  He  makes  not  the  remotest 
reference  to  any  higher  court  of  appeal, 
either  ecclesiastical  or  civil. 

We  find  another  illustration  of  this 
principle  in  i  Cor.  5  :  2,  5,  12,  13.  Paul 
reproves  the  church  at  Corinth  for  not 
dealing  promptly  with  an  offender,  and 
calls  upon  them,  when  they  are  assem- 
bled together,  to  deliver  him  to  Satan, 
etc.  Again,  in  referring  to  this  case  (2 
Cor.  2  :  6),  he  states  that  the  punishment 
was  inflicted  by  "  many,"  or  literally  by 
the  greater  number,  which  manifestly 
means  the  majority. 

It  has  been  claimed  that  the  fifteenth 
chapter  of  the  Acts  furnishes  authority 
for  church  courts.  Is  this  a  valid  claim? 
Let  us  turn  to  the  account  of  it. 

A  church  sprang  up  in  the  Gentile  city 
of  Antioch.     Certain  men  from  Judea 


28 


Hi 


ilSli 


visited  theni)  and  taught  that  they  must 
be  circumcised,  or  they  could  not  be 
saved.  This  doctrine  was  a  subversion 
of  the  gospel.  After  much  discussion  it 
was  decided  to  carry  the  question  to  Jeru- 
salem, where  most  of  the  apostles  were, 
and  where  they  would  be  most  likely  to 
ascertain  the  truth  in  reference  to  the 
disputed  doctrine.  Paul,  Barnabas,  and 
others  were  sent  as  delegates. 

When  they  were  come  to  Jerusalem 
they  were  received  by  the  church,  and 
the  apostles  and  elders.  Then  a  meeting 
was  held  to  consider  the  matter.  At  the 
close  of  Peter's  address,  "all  the  multi- 
tude kept  silence  "  while  they  heard  what 
Paul  and  Barnabas  had  to  say.  Then 
James  spoke,  and  after  his  address,  "it 
pleased  the  apostles  and  elders,  vnth  the 
whole  church,  to  send  chosen  men  of 
their  own  company  to  Antioch  with  Paul 
and  Barnabas,"  to  bear  their  communica- 
tion ;  and  the  document  which  they  pre- 
pared commences  thus :  "  The  apostles 
and  elders  and  brethren  send  greeting," 
etc.  We  are  led  to  the  following  con- 
clusions :        . 


mmm 


I  29 

1.  This  was  not  a  general  council,  foi 
only  two  churches  were  represented,  and 
therefore,  it  bears  no  resemblance  to 
modern  councils. 

2.  It  was  unlike  any  council  which 
can  now  be  convened,  for  it  was  presided 
over  by  apostles  and  inspired  men. 

3.  It  furnishes  no  warrant  for  author- 
itative councils,  since  they  cannoc  now 
issue  inspired  decrees. 

4.  It  was  in  all  respects,  and  in  the 
highest  degree,  exceptional  and  extraor- 
dinary. 

The  celebrated  Archbishop  Whately 
says :  "  As  for  so-called  general  councils, 
we  find  not  even  any  mention  of  them, 
or  allusion  to  any  such  expedient.  The 
pretended  First  Council  at  Jerusalem 
does  seem  to  me  a  most  extraordinary 
chimera,  without  any  warrant  whatever 
from  sacred  history." — Kingdom  of  Christy 
p.  36. 

Mosheim,  the  great  church  historian, 
says:  "In  those  primitive  times,  each 
Christian  church  was  composed  of  the 
people,  the  presiding  officers,  and  the 
assistants  or  deacons.     The',e  must  be 


I  fj 


rl 


30 

the  component  parts  of  every  society. 
The  highest  authority  was  in  the  people, 
or  the  whole  body  of  Christians ;  for  even 
the  apostles  themselves  inculcated  by 
their  example  that  nothing  of  any  mo- 
ment was  to  be  done  or  determined  on, 
but  with  the  knowledge  and  consent  of 
the  brotherhood  (Acts  1:15;  6:3;  15:4; 
21  :  22)." — Ecclesiastical  History y  Vol.  I., 
p.  77,  Murdock^s  translation. 

Again,  he  says :  "  All  the  churches  in 
those  primitive  times  were  independent 
bodies,  or  none  of  them  subject  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  any  other.  For  though 
the  churches  which  were  founded  by  the 
apostles  themselves  frequently  had  the 
honor  shown  them  to  be  consulted  in 
difficult  cases,  yet  they  had  no  judicial 
authority,  no  control,  no  power  of  giving 
laws.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  as  clear  as 
noonday,  that  all  Christian  churches  had 
equal  rights,  and  were  in  all  respects  on 
a  footing  of  equality "  (Vol.  I.,  p.  83). 

And  again,  he  says :  "  These  councils, 
of  which  no  vestige  appears  before  the 
middle  of  this  (second)  century,  changed 
nearly  the  whole  form  of  the  church. 


I 


I  I 


31 


For,  in  the  first  place,  the  ancient  rights 
and  privileges  of  the  people  were,  by 
them,  very  much  abridged ;  and  on  the 
other  hand,  the  influence  and  authority 
of  the  bishops  were  not  a  little  augment- 
ed "(Vol.  L,  p.  150). 

Dean  Waddington,  speaking  of  the 
churches  of  the  first  century,  says: 
"Every  church  was  essentially  inde- 
pendent of  any  other.  The  churches 
thus  constituted  and  regulated,  formed  a 
sort  of  federative  body  of  independent 
religious  communities,  dispersed  through 
the  greater  part  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
in  continual  communication,  and  in  con- 
stant harmony  with  each  other." — Eccle^ 
siastical  History^  p.  43. 

All  this  agrees  with  the  views  held 
by  Baptists  concerning  the  churches  of 
Christ  and  their  government. 

Baptists  hold  that,  according  to  the 
plain  teaching  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  the 
regularlj/^  appointed  ofl&ces  in  a  Christian 
church  are  but  two— that  of  bishop  or 
pastor,  and  deacon  ;  the  first,  to  minister 
in  things  spiritual,  and  the  second,  in 
things  temporal. 


J-  .;-, 


^1 


3» 

The  New  Testament  bishop  was  not 
a  *'  lord  over  God's  heritage,"  in  author- 
ity over  a  number  of  churches  and  min- 
isters in  a  large  district,  but  was  simply 
the  pastor,  or  one  of  the  pastors,  of  a 
church.  Paul,  in  writing  to  the  church 
at  Philippi,  addresses  "the  saints  in  Christ 
Jesus,  with  the  bishops  and  deacons." 

The  terms  "  bishop  "  and  "  elder  "  are 
used  synonymously.  In  PauPs  address 
at  Miletus,  to  the  elders  of  the  Ephesian 
Church  (Acts  20),  he  says  :  "  Take  heed, 
therefore,  unto  yourselves,  and  to  all  the 
flock,  over  the  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
hath  made  you  overseers"  (episcopous). 
The  same  word  is  here  used  which  is 
elsewhere  translated  bishop.  The  elders, 
therefore,  were  bishops.  The  same  thing 
is  proved  conclusively  in  Titus  i  :  5-7, 
where  Paul  reminds  Titus  that  he  left 
him  in  Crete  to  ordain  elders  in  every 
city.  He  goes  on  immediately  to  men- 
tion the  necessary  qualifications  of  the 
men  to  be  so  ordained,  and  then  adds, 
"  for  a  bishop "  must  be  blameless,  etc. 
"Elder,"  "bishop,"  "pastor,"  therefore 
refer  to  the  same  office. 


t  I 


That  these  two  officers,  bishop  and 
deacon,  were  the  only  ones  recognized  in 
the  primitive  churches  seems  evident 
from  PauPs  directions  both  to  Timothy 
and  Titus.  In  treating  of  the  qualifica- 
tions of  church  officers,  he  mentions  these 
only.  If  others  had  existed  he  would 
undoubtedly  have  referred  to  them.  We 
find  no  warrant  in  the  Book  for  the 
almost  endless  variety  and  gradation  of 
clerical  orders  and  distinctions,  from  pope 
to  parson,  from  cardinal  to  curate,  which 
exist  at  the  present  day.  We  must,  there- 
fore, conclude  that  these  offices  are  the 
inventions  of  men,  and  we  are  of  the 
opinion  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  does 
not  need  men  to  invent  anything  for 
him.     "  His  work  is  perfect." 

Baptist  churches  are  presided  over  by 
** bishops,"  in  the  New  Testament  sense — 
i,  ^.,  overseers  or  pastors — and  their  tem- 
poral affairs  are  in  charge  of  deacons. 

Baptists  call  councils  from  time  to 
time,  as  occasion  seems  to  require,  but  no 
authority  is  claimed  for  them.  They  do 
not  issue  "decrees,"  but  are  only  advisory. 
They  are  not  clerical  conclaves,  but  are 


% 


aik 


If;;     il 


54 

composed  of  private  brethren  as  well  as 
ministers.  Baptists  hold  Associations  and 
Conventions,  but  they  are  merely  meet- 
ings for  general  religious  purposes,  and 
have  no  legislative  authority  or  ruling 
power  whatever. 

And  yet,  there  is  as  much  real  unity 
among  Baptist  churches  the  world  over, 
as  among  those  which  are  bound  together 
by  extensive,  complicated,  ponderous  ec- 
clesiastical systems  of  human  origin. 
Baptist  churches,  though  independent  of 
each  other,  are  united  by  the  most  pow- 
erful of  all  bonds,  even  those  specified 
by  Paul,  when  exhorting  the  Ephesian 
Christians  to  maintain  unity  (Eph.  4  :  4- 
6) :  "  There  is  one  body,  and  one  Spirit, 
even  as  ye  are  called  in  one  hope  of  your 
calling ;  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism, 
one  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above 
all,  and  through  all,  and  in  you  all." 

This  system  of  church  government, 
framed,  we  believe,  by  Divine  wisdom,  is 
characterized  by  simplicity,  instead  of 
complexity ;  and  yet  it  is  comprehensive 
enough  to  meet  all  requirements,  and  ad- 
equate to  the  successful  settlement  of  all 


:i 


35 

difficulties,  when  administered    in    the 
spirit  of  Christian  love. 

It  is  in  connection  with  this  principle 
of  the  independence  of  the  churches,  that 
Baptists  have  ever  maintained  an  uncom- 
promising disapproval  of  the  unhallowed 
union  of  Church  and  State ;  it  being  per- 
fectly clear  that  thus  united,  the  Church 
must  be  secularized  by  the  State,  as  is 
lamentably  apparent  in  all  such  estab- 
lishments. 


VI 

Soul  Liberty 

Another  principle  for  which  Baptists 
have  always  contended  is  soul  liberty,  or 
perfect  freedom  of  conscience. 

Most  denominations  are  very  ready  to 
advocate  this  principle  now,  since  in  the 
light  of  the  nineteenth  century  it  is  seen 
to  be  built  on  the  foundation  of  truth 
and  justice ;  but  trace  back  its  history 
and  it  will  be  found  to  be  a  distinguish- 
ing principle  of  the  Baptists.  They  have 
ever  stood  forth  as  the  champions  of  per- 


36 


1!^    ! 


Ill 


feet  religious  liberty — holding  that  no 
man  or  body  of  men,  civil  or  ecclesiasti- 
cal, has  a  right  to  interfere  with  the  con- 
science or  to  force  any  one  to  believe 
this  or  that  doctrine  or  to  worship  God 
according  to  this  or  that  form. 

The  celebrated  John  Locke,  in  his 
"Essay  on  Toleration,"  says:  "The 
Baptists  were,  from  the  first,  the  friends 
of  liberty,  just  and  true  liberty,  equal  and 
impartial  liberty." 

Bancroft,  the  American  historian,  says : 
"  Freedom  of  conscience,  unlimited  free- 
dom of  mind  was,  from  the  first,  the  tro- 
phy of  the  Baptists." — History  United 
StateSy  Vol.  II.,  pp.  66,  67. 

The  first  modern  treatise  ever  written 
upon  religious  liberty  was  by  I^eonard 
Busher,  a  Baptist,  in  161 4.  Its  title  is 
"  Religious  Peace,  or  a  Plea  for  I^iberty 
of  Conscience."  It  asks  full  liberty  for 
men  to  worship  God  in  the  manner  they 
believe  to  be  right.  Three  years  before 
that  the  "  Baptist  Confession  of  Faith," 
then  published,  used  this  language : 
"  We  believe  that  the  magistrate  is  not 
to  meddle  with  religion  or  matters  of 


i 


37 

conscience,  nor  compel  men  to  this  or 
that  form  of  religion,  because  Christ  is 
the  King  and  Lawgiver  of  the  church 
and  the  conscience." 

The  honor  of  being  the  first  advocate 
of  religious  liberty  has  been  claimed  for 
Jeremy  Taylor.  This  claim  is  not  sup^ 
ported  ;  for,  in  the  first  place,  his  plea  is 
only  for  toleration  of  a  few  Christian 
sects,  which  falls  far  short  of  religious 
freedom ;  and,  moreover,  his  treatise  was 
issued  nearly  forty  years  after  that  of 
Leonard  Busher. 

This  principle  is  so  manifestly  reason- 
able and  right  and  in  accordance  with 
truth  and  equity  that  it  would  be  super- 
fluous to  enter  into  an  argumentative  de- 
fense of  it.  How  surprising  that  the 
opposite  principle  of  intolerance  and  per- 
secution— a  principle  so  unreasonable, 
unjust,  unscriptural,  and  thoroughly  bad 
— should  have  survived  so  long ! 

The  name  of  Roger  Williams  being 
inseparable  connected  with  the  cause  of 
religious  liberty,  we  cannot  pass  it  over 
in  silence.  It  is  a  name  on  which  rests 
imperishable  honor.     He  was   the  first 


38 


I* 


I  i 


1 1 
1 1 


1    ! 


':;;      i 


'If      , 


1 1 


advocate  of  soul  liberty  in  America.  For 
this  cause  he  was  banished  from  the  col- 
ony of  Massachusetts,  in  1635,  ^Y  ^^^ 
very  men  who  had  fled  from  their  own 
land  to  find  religious  freedom.  There 
is  no  exhibition  of  moral  heroism  in 
the  history  of  the  American  continent 
grander  than  that  which  is  presented  by 
Roger  Williams  going  into  exile  among 
savage  Indians  and  enduring  all  the 
hardships  of  banishment  in  mid-winter 
on  account  of  principle  ;  and  under  such 
circumstances  founding  a  commonwealth 
the  law  of  which  should  be  perfect  tol- 
eration— a  commonwealth  where,  in  the 
language  of  Judge  Storey,  "  we  read,  for 
the  first  time  since  Christianity  ascended 
the  throne  of  the  Caesars,  the  declaration 
*  that  conscience  should  be  free,  and  men 
should  not  be  punished  for  worshiping 
God  in  the  way  they  were  persuaded  he 
required.'  "  —  Roger  Williams  and  the 
Baptists^  by  Dr.  Eddy. 

Baptists,  though  often  suffering  perse- 
cution from  both  Papists  and  Protestants, 
have  never  persecuted,  have  never  exer- 
cised intolerance  toward  others.     It  has 


39 

been  said  that  the  reason  of  this  is  that 
they  never  had  the  power.  This  asser- 
tion is  false,  as  might  be  shown  by  sev- 
eral references.     Take  one  instance  : 

The  colony  of  Rhode  Island  was 
founded  under  Baptist  auspices.  Had 
Williams  and  his  people  chosen  to  es- 
tablish the  Baptist  faith  as  the  religion 
of  the  land  they  might  have  done  so. 
Had  they  desired  to  secure  to  themselves 
peculiar  religious  privileges  and  monopo- 
lies, and  to  oppress  those  who  dissented 
from  them  they  might  have  done  so.  On 
the  contrary,  perfect  religious  freedom 
for  all  was  secured  by  their  laws  from  the 
first. 

But  the  principles  of  Baptists  render  it 
impossible  that  they  should  persecute. 
Their  views  of  the  individuality  of  relig- 
ion and  the  spirituality  of  Christ's  king- 
dom forbid  that  they  should  coerce  men 
in  matters  of  faith.  If  they  did  so  they 
would  cease  to  be  Baptists.  They  in 
themselves  have  been  no  better  than  the 
men  of  their  time.  Their  clearer  views 
must  have  been  due  to  their  interpreta- 
tion of  Scripture. 


40 


ii./ii 


u 


VII 

Baptism:   the  Design 

As  regards  baptism,  we  believe  that 
the  main  thing  is  the  object  or  design. 
What  is  the  principle  which  underlies 
the  ordinance  ?  This  is  the  first  and  vital 
point.  If  this  is  not  scriptural  the  most 
orthodox  form  of  administration  is  vain. 

Evidently  the  Scriptures  teach,  in  all 
their  references  to  the  subject,  that  bap- 
tism is  the  conscious,  voluntary,  delib- 
erate act  of  a  believer  in  Christ,  because 
he  is  a  believer,  and  because  Christ  re- 
quires this  public  acknowledgment  from 
all  his  true  disciplec  The  Bible  does 
not  teach  that  baptism  is  something  done 
for  a  person  without  his  knowledge  or 
forced  upon  him  without  his  consent. 
Nor  is  it  something  that  he  observes  be- 
cause it  is  customary,  or  as  a  mere  out- 
ward form.  Nor  is  it  a  sacrament  for 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  salvation,  nor  a 
mechanical  process  by  which  Christians 
are  made.  But  it  is  the  conscious,  will- 
ing profession  of  personal  faith  in  the 


III 


41 


Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  of  surrender  to 
him.  The  believer  thus  declares,  in  the 
way  appointed  by  the  Redeemer  himself 
and  enjoined  on  all  his  followers,  that  he 
now  trusts  in  Christ  and  gratefully  ac- 
cepts him  as  his  all-sufficient  Saviour 
and  rightful  King,  and  gladly  becomes 
his  disciple  and  follower.  The  act  ex- 
presses the  Christian's  faith  in  the  two 
greatest  facts  of  redemption,  the  death 
and  resurrection  of  Christ,  and  also  sym- 
bolizes his  own  death  to  sin  and  his  ris- 
ing to  the  new  life. 

We  believe  that  this  is  the  meaning 
and  design  of  baptism,  according  to  the 
word  of  God.  It  is  either  expressly 
taught  or  implied  in  every  passage  where 
the  ordinance  is  mentioned.  It  does  not 
mean  any  more  :  as  for  instance,  regen- 
eration, or  deliverance  from  sin,  or  a 
passport  to  heaven.  It  does  not  mean 
any  less :  as,  for  instance,  joining  the 
church,  or  receiving  a  Christian  name,  or 
showing  respect  for  religion,  or  conform- 
ing to  a  custom.  It  means  just  what  we 
have  said,  death  on  the  one  side  and  a 
new  life  on  the  other. 


42 


VIII 
Baptism:  the  Subjects 

This  has  been  partly  anticipated  in 
what  has  been  said  in  the  foregoing  sec- 
tion concerning  the  design  of  baptism. 

Baptists  hold  that  believers  only  are  fit 
subjects  for  baptism.  This,  they  believe, 
is  abundantly  proved  by  the  positive  pre- 
cepts of  the  word  of  God  and  by  the  prin- 
ciple of  Christ^s  kingdom.  Let  us  look 
at  the  teachings  of  Scripture.  There  iL 
not  a  passage  in  the  Bible  where  we  are 
told  that  an  infant  was  baptized ;  there  is 
not  a  command  in  the  whole  book  to 
baptize  infants. 

Belief  is  always  the  expressly  enjoined 
prerequisite.  Take  the  Commission,  as 
recorded  by  Matthew  (28  :  19,  20) :  "Go 
ye,  therefore,  and  teach  (disciple)  all  na- 
tions, baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the 
Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  teaching  them  to  observe  all 
things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded 
you."  Notice  here  first  the  order  of  the 
words:    (i)  Disciple;    (2)  Baptize;    (3) 


43 

Teach.  This  order  must  be  significant  and 
important.  To  affirm  the  contrary  is  to 
charge  the  Saviour  with  using  indefinite 
and  random  speech  in  one  of  the  most 
notable  utterances  which  ever  fell  from 
his  lips.  We  learn,  then,  that  the  first 
thing  is  to  make  disciples,  then  to  bap- 
tize them,  then  to  instruct  them  in  the 
command  of  Christ.  If  it  is  asked,  how 
are  the  servants  of  Christ  to  make  disci- 
ples ?  we  answer,  by  preaching  the  glad 
tidings  to  sinners.  Those  who  truly  be- 
lieve the  good  news  and  heartily  accept 
the  proffered  salvation  become  disciples. 
Notice,  secondly,  the  tense  of  the  parti- 
ciple. It  is  not  baptisantes^  having  bap- 
tized, but  baptizontes^  baptizing.  Note, 
in  the  third  place,  the  gender  of  the  pro- 
noun, autous^  which  refers  directly  to 
disciples  (understood)  and  cannot  refer  to 
nations.  It  was  disciples  they  were  to 
baptize. 

But  it  has  sometimes  been  said  that 
the  passage  means  they  were  to  make 
disciples  by  baptizing  them.  This  inter- 
pretation, besides  teaching  a  most  un- 
scriptural  doctrine,  and  being  utterly  un- 


jm 


44 

supported,  is  forbidden  by  John  4:1, 
where  it  is  said  that  the  Pharisees  heard 
"  that  Jesus  made  and  baptized  more  dis- 
ciples than  John."  The  making  of  the 
disciples  and  the  baptizing  of  them  are 
here  clearly  distinguished. 

If  we  turn  to  the  Commission,  as  re- 
corded by  Mark  16  :  15,  16,  the  same 
doctrine  of  believer's  baptism  is  clearly 
taught:  "Preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature ;  he  that  believeth  and  is  bap- 
tized shall  be  saved."  Here  is  the  same 
order :  (i)  Belief ;  (2)  Baptism. 

"  Then  they  that  gladly  received  his 
word  were  baptized  "  (Acts  2  :  41). 

"But  when  they  believed  Philip, 
preaching  the  things  concerning  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ,  they  were  baptized,  both  men  and 
women"  (Acts  8  :  12). 

"  Then  answered  Peter,  can  any  man 
forbid  water,  that  these  should  not  be 
baptized,  which  have  received  the  Holy 
Ghost  as  well  as  we  ?  "  (Acts  10  :  46,  47.) 

"  And  many  of  the  Corinthians  hear- 
ing, believed  and  were  baptized "  (Acts 
18  :  8). 


4S 

The  baptism  of  the  households  of  Lyd- 
ia  and  the  Philippian  jailer  is  not  at  all 
at  variance  with  the  doctrine  of  believ- 
er's baptism.  For  in  the  case  of  Lydia 
we  learn  that  she  was  "  of  the  city  of 
Thyatira,"  in  Asia  Minor,  far  distant 
from  Philippi,  where  she  was  converted ; 
and  that  she  was  "a  seller  of  purple," 
probably  a  traveling  merchant.  Is  it 
likely  that  her  household  included  in- 
fants? 

Says  De  Wette :  "  There  is  nothing 
here  which  shows  that  any  except  adults 
were  baptis^ed."  Meyer  says:  "When 
Jewish  or  heathen  families  became  Chris- 
tians, the  children  in  them  could  have 
been  baptized  only  in  cases  in  which 
they  were  so  far  developed  that  they 
could  profess  their  faith  in  Christ,  and 
did  actually  profess  it ;  for  this  was  the 
universal  requisition  for  the  reception  of 
baptism.  On  the  contrary,  if  the  chil- 
dren were  still  unable  to  believe  they  did 
not  partake  of  the  rite,  since  they  were 
wanting  in  what  the  act  presupposed." 
Olshausen  says :  "  Since  a  profession  of 
faith  preceded  baptism  it  is  improbable 


m 


■h 


1  I 


4« 


I  if 
^  iiil 


in  the  highest  degree  that,  by  *her 
household,*  children  of  an  immature  age 
are  to  be  understood."  These  three  emi- 
ment  Crerman  commentators  are  Pedo- 
baptists. 

In  the  case  of  the  jailer,  we  are  ex- 
pressly told  that  Paul  and  Silas  "  spake 
unto  him  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  to 
all  that  were  in  his  house  " ;  and  after- 
ward we  read  that  he  "  rejoiced,  believing 
in  God  with  all  his  house." 

Let  us  now  hear  what  ecclesiastical 
historians  and  other  eminent  Christian 
scholars  have  to  say  on  this  subject,  es- 
pecially in  reference  to  the  practice  of  the 
early  church.  Since  none  of  us  knows, 
from  his  own  personal  knowledge,  what 
have  been  the  belief  and  practice  of 
Christians  in  former  ages,  we  must  ap- 
peal to  history  and  call  for  the  testimony 
of  those  who  have  made  these  subjects 
their  special  study.  And  that  these  may 
be  reliable,  they  must  be  men  whose 
ability,  learning,  and  opportunities  for 
investigation  were  of  the  highest  order, 
whose  testimony  is  irrefragable,  and 
whose  works  have  become  standard  au- 


!'      :ift  i 


47 

thorities  throughout  Christendom.  In 
order  that  our  witnesses  may  be  entirely 
free  from  suspicion  of  partiality  we  will 
not  summon  a  single  Baptist  to  the  wit- 
ness stand. 

Dr.  Augustus  Neander,  one  of  the 
most  eminent  church  historians,  a  name 
of  world-wide  reputation,  says:  "Bap- 
tism was  administered  at  first  only  to 
adults,  as  men  were  accustomed  to  con- 
ceive baptism  and  faith  as  strictly  con- 
nected. We  have  all  reason  for  not 
deriving  infant  baptism  from  apostolic 
institution." — Ecclesiastical  History^  Vol 
I.,  p.  311,  Am.  ed. 

Again  he  says:  "As  baptism  was 
closely  united  with  a  conscious  entrance 
on  Christian  communion,  faith  and  bap- 
tism were  always  connected  with  one 
another,  and  thus  it  is  in  the  highest 
degree  probable  that  baptism  was  per- 
formed only  in  the  instances  where  both 
could  meet  together,  and  that  the  prac- 
tice of  infant  baptism  was  unknown  at 
this  period." — Planting  and  Training  of 
the  Christian  Churchy  pp.  161,  162. 

Curcellseus  (died  1659),  ^^  eminently 


11 


!|  if!;: 

*i:      i.l'.l 


48 

learned  man,  published  a  critical  edition 
of  the  Greek  Testament.  "  The  baptism 
of  infants  in  the  first  two  centuries  after 
Christ  was  altogether  unknown,  but  iu 
the  third  century  was  allowed  by  some 
few.  In  the  fifth  and  following  ages  it 
was  generally  received.  The  custom  of 
baptizing  infants  did  not  begin  before 
the  third  age  after  Christ  was  born." — 
InsL  ReL  Ch.^  Lib,  I.,  Chap.  XII. 

Professor  Jacobi,  University  of  Berlin : 
"  Infant  baptism  was  established  neither 
by  Christ  nor  the  apostles.  In  all  places 
where  we  find  the  necessity  of  baptism 
notified,  either  in  a  dogmatic  or  historic 
cal  point  of  view,  it  is  evident  that  it  was 
only  meant  for  those  who  were  capable 
of  comprehending  the  word  preached 
and  of  being  converted  to  Christ  by  an 
act  of  their  own  will." — Kitto^s  Cyclope- 
dia of  Biblical  Literature^  Vol.  I.,  p.  287. 

Baron  Bunsen,  Prussian  Ambassador 
at  the  British  Court  for  many  years,  a 
deeply  learned  man  and  voluminous 
writer  on  ecclesiastical  subjects :  "  Pedo- 
baptism,  in  the  modern  sense,  meaning 
thereby  the  baptism  of  new-born  infants, 


49 


S.| 


with  the  vicarious  promises  of  parents  and 
sponsors,  was  utterly  unknown  to  the 
early  church,  not  only  down  to  the  end 
of  the  second,  but,  indeed,  to  the  middle 
of  the  third  century." — HippolyttiSy  Vol. 
III.,  p.  1 80. 

Prof.  Moses  Stuart,  d.  d.,  Andover 
Theological  Seminary  :  "  Commands  or 
plain  and  certain  examples  in  the  New 
Testament  relative  to  it  (infant  baptism) 
I  do  not  find." — Biblical  Repository^  1883, 

P-  365- 

Rev.  Dr.  J.    P.   Lange,   the  eminent 

German  commentator  ;  "  All  attempts  to 
make  out  infant  baptism  from  the  New 
Testament  fail.  It  is  totally  opposed  to 
the  spirit  of  the  apostolic  age  and  to  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament."— Infant  Baptism^  p.  loi. 

The  "  North  British  Review  "  is  a  pub- 
lication of  the  highest  standing.  The  ar- 
ticle from  which  we  quote  is  attributed 
to  Dr.  Hanna,  of  Edinburgh :  "  Scrip- 
ture knows  nothing  of  infant  baptism. 
There  is  absolutely  not  a  single  trace  of 
it  to  be  found  in  the  New  Testament. 
There  are  passages  which  may  be  recon- 


so 

ciled  with  it  if  the  practice  can  only  be 
proved  to  have  existed,  but  there  is  not 
one  word  which  asserts  its  existence" 
{July^  1852,  pp.  209-212). 

The  eminent  Dean  Stanley,  of  West- 
minster, than  whom  there  is  probably  no 
higher  authority  on  questions  of  Oriental 
ecclesiastical  history,  contributed  an  ar- 
ticle on  "  Baptism  "  to  the  "  Nineteenth 
Century  Review"  in  1879.  ^^  ^^^^ 
shows  what  baptism  was  in  the  primitive 
churches,  viz.,  the  immersion  of  a  be- 
liever, as  a  voluntary  profession  of  per- 
sonal faith  in  Christ.  He  then  proceeds 
to  point  out  the  changes  which  have 
since  been  introduced.  The  third  chanf 
noticed  is  that  which  refers  to  the  subjecia 
of  baptism.  Under  this  head  he  says : 
"Another  change  is  not  so  complete  (as 
that  from  immersion  to  sprinkling),  but 
it  is  perhaps  more  important.  In  the 
apostolic  age  and  in  the  three  centuries 
which  followed,  it  is  evident  that,  as  a 
general  rule,  those  who  came  to  baptism 
came  in  full  age,  of  their  own  deliberate 
choice.  We  find  a  few  cases  of  the  bap- 
tism of   children ;  in   the  third  century 


I  i 


5« 

we  find  one  case  of  the  baptism  of  infants. 
The  liturgical  service  of  baptism  was 
framed  entirely  for  full-grown  converts, 
and  is  only  by  considerable  adaptation 
applied  to  the  case  of  infants." 

This  testimony  might  be  extended  al- 
most indefinitely,  plain  statements  to  pre- 
cisely the  same  effect  having  been  made 
by  very  many  of  the  highest  authorities 
in  church  history  and  Scripture  interpre- 
tation, among  whom  may  be  specified 
Luther,  Erasmus,  Limborch,  Schleier- 
macher,  Gieseler,  Lange,  Hagenbach, 
D'Aubign^,  Hodge,  Stewart,  and  Woods. 
This  evidence  is  furnished  by  men  whose 
denominational  position  and  sentiments 
would  naturally  prejudice  them  against 
such  views  and  prevent  their  making 
such  concessions,  unless  truth  absolutely 
required  it.  To  suppose  that  their  state- 
ments are  unreliable  is  to  turn  all  his- 
tory into  fiction.  If  then  this  evidence 
so  clear,  so  concurrent,  so  abundant,  is 
true  and  infant  baptism  was  not  insti- 
tuted by  Christ  or  the  apostles,  the  ques- 
tion naturally  arises,  whence  and  undei 
what  circumstances  did  it  come? 


52 


Its  origin  is  plain.  Error  in  doctrine 
preceded  and  gave  birth  to  it.  No  one 
who  carefully  reads  the  apostolic  Epis- 
tles can  fail  to  notice,  by  the  statements 
made  and  the  warnings  given,  that  error 
in  doctrine  and  practice  was  even  then 
beginning  to  creep  into  the  churches ; 
and  the  apostles  expressly  declared  that 
this  should  be  the  case  more  fully  after- 
ward. Now,  if  we  turn  to  the  writings 
of  the  "  Fathers,"  as  they  are  called, — 
that  is,  those  who  lived  during  the  first 
few  centuries  after  Christ, — we  find  that 
one  of  the  earliest  and  most  pernicious 
errors  which  developed  itself  was  the 
doctrine  that  baptism  saves  the  soul,  and 
that  salvation  is  impossible  without  it. 
All  the  evidence  needed  on  this  point  is 
a  reference  to  the  writings  of  some  of  the 
"  Fathers."  Cyprian,  Ambrose,  Chrysos- 
tom,  and  others,  speak  in  the  most  ex- 
travagant terms  of  the  benefits  and  mi- 
raculous effects  of  baptism.  They  taught 
that  all  who  died  unbaptized  must  in- 
evitably be  lost.  It  is  easy  to  see  what 
such  a  doctrine  would  lead  to,  How 
could  parents  endure  the  thought  of  their 


53 

dying  children  sinking  to  perdition  when 
it  was  in  their  power  to  save  them  by 
having  them  baptized?  Claudius  Sal- 
masius,  who  filled  a  professorship  at  the 
University  of  Leyden,  in  1632,  says: 
"  An  opinion  prevailed  that  no  one  could 
be  saved  without  being  baptized,  and  for 
that  reason  the  custom  arose  of  baptizing 
infants."  First  the  design  of  the  ordi- 
nance was  corrupted  and  that  led  to  un- 
scriptural  practice.  Many  authorities 
might  be  cited  to  show  that  this  was  the 
true  historic  origin  of  infant  baptism. 
The  doctrine  of  baptismal  regeneration 
and  that  of  infant  baptii?m  were  closely 
connected  then  ;  have  they  ever  been 
clearly  separated,  or  can  they  be  ? 

Another  clew  to  the  practice  of  primi- 
tive times  is  found  in  the  adult  baptism 
of  several  of  the  distinguished  theolo- 
gians and  preachers  of  those  days,  al- 
though their  parents  were  Christians  of 
unquestioned  intelligence  and  piety. 

Gregory  Nazianzen,  Archbishop  of 
Constantinople,  who  died  A.  D.  389,  and 
whose  father  was  bishop  of  Nazianzen, 
was  not  baptized  till  he  was  nearly  thirty 


54 

years  old. —  Ullman^s  Gregory  of  Nasian- 
zen, 

Ephrem,  of  Edessa,  a  learned  writer 
(died  A.  D.  378),  was  born  of  parents  who 
"  were  ennobled  by  the  blood  of  martyrs 
in  their  family  and  had  themselves  both 
confessed  Christ  before  the  persecutors 
under  Diocletian  or  his  successors.  They 
consecrated  Ephrem  to  God  from  his 
cradle,  like  another  Samuel,  but  he  was 
eighteen  years  old  when  he  was  bap- 
tized."— Alban  Butler'* s  Lives  of  the 
Saints, 

We  learn  from  ecclesiastical  history 
that  Basil  of  Csesarea  (a.  d.  350),  though 
he  could  boast  of  Christian  ancestry  for 
several  generations,  was  not  baptized  till 
he  was  twenty-seven  years  old.  Chrysos- 
tom  (died  A.  d.  407),  the  golden-mouthed 
preacher,  archbishop  of  Constantinople, 
and  born  of  Christian  parents,  received 
baptism  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight.  Am- 
brosius,  bishop  of  Milan,  was  a  citizen  of 
Rome,  but  born  in  France  A.  d.  340.  He 
received  a  religious  education  and  was 
reared  in  the  habits  of  virtuous  conduct ; 
but  he  was  not  baptized  till    he  had 


;i ' 


55 

reached  the  age  of  thirty-four.  Augus- 
tine was  not  baptized  until  he  was  nearly 
twenty-five  years  of  age,  though  his 
mother,  Monica,  was  a  woman  of  great 
piety  and  instructed  him  carefully  in  the 
principles  of  the  Christian  religion.  Je- 
rome was  baptized  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
one.  The  Emperor  Theodosius  was  bap- 
tized in  the  thirty-fourth  or  thirty-fifth 
year  of  his  age,  though  he  had  been 
trained  up  from  his  childhood  in  the 
Christian  faith.  How  strange  that  these 
persons  were  not  baptized  in  their  in- 
fancy !  Evidently  the  erroneous  practice 
had  not  yet  become  very  general. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  Bap- 
tists cannot  find  authority  in  the  word  of 
God  for  infant  baptism,  when  its  advo- 
cates are  so  divided  in  opinion  in  refer- 
ence to  it.  Some  of  its  ablest  defenders 
point  to  the  Abrahamic  covenant  as  con- 
taining the  main  strength  of  the  scrip- 
tural argument  in  its  favor.  Other 
equally  high  authorities  declare  that  the 
Abrahamic  covenant  furnishes  no  ground 
fc  infant  baptism.  Some  denominations 
baptize  infants  in  order  to  bring  them 


56 

into  the  church ;  others  baptize  them 
because  they  are  already  in.  There  is  a 
perfect  chaos  of  opinion  in  regard  to  it. 
The  reasons  alleged  for  its  observance 
are  wondrously  diverse. 

Among  the  far-fetched,  irrelevant,  and 
contradictory  reasons  put  forth  by  its 
advocates,  perhaps  the  most  unique  is  the 
following :  Infants  ought  to  be  baptized 
because  the  command  to  do  so  may  have 
been  among  the  parchments  which  Paul 
left  at  Troas !  Where,  we  ask,  is  a  "  thus 
saith  the  Lord  "  ?  Its  advocates  admit 
that  Christian  baptism  is  a  New  Testa- 
ment ordinance.  We  ask,  therefore,  New 
Testament  authority  for  its  application 
to  infants ;  but  instead  of  that  we  gen- 
erally have  a  long,  labored,  involved,  and 
inconclusive  argument  from  the  Old 
Testament. 

We  are  told  that  baptism  came  in  place 
of  circumcision,  and  therefore  ought  to 
be  administered  to  infants,  as  that  Jew- 
ish rite  was.  We  reply :  If  that  is  the 
case  is  it  not  most  unaccountably  strange 
that  "  the  apostles  and  elders  and  breth- 
ren" at  Jerusalem  did  not  say  so,  when 


this  very  question  of  circumcision  came 
before  them  ?  The  converts  at  Antioch 
had  been  taught  by  some  that  circumci- 
sion was  still  binding,  and  that  it  was 
necessary  for  them  to  observe  it.  How 
easy,  then,  for  the  council  at  Jerusalem 
to  have  settled  the  whole  difficulty  by 
simply  saying  that  baptism  had  taken 
the  place  of  circumcision,  and  that  there- 
fore it  was  unnecessary  longer  to  observe 
the  old  ordinance.  But  do  we  find  the 
remotest  shadow  of  a  hint  of  any  such 
doctrine  in  the  utterances  of  that  body  ? 
Certainly  not.  This  silence  is  inexplica- 
ble if  the  above  view  was  then  held. 

If  baptism  came  in  the  place  of  cir- 
cumcision evidently  the  Jewish  Chris- 
tians did  not  know  it,  for  some  of  them 
taught  that  it  was  necessary  to  observe 
both  rites. 

If  baptism  came  in  place  of  circum- 
cision, then,  to  carry  out  the  analogy,  it 
ought  to  be  administered  only  to  males 
(Gen.  17  :  lo) ;  and  a  man*s  slaves  or  serv- 
ants ought  to  be  included  as  well  as  his 
offspring  (Gen.  17  :  23,  27) ;  and,  more- 
over, those  who  are  baptized  ought  to  be 


.1.1. 


58 

admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper  as  the 
circumcised  were  to  the  Passover  (Exod. 
12  :  4). 

Then  if  infant  baptism  is  not  scriptural, 
why  observe  it?  "Oh,"  says  one,  "my 
child  might  die  and  I  would  be  very 
sorry  to  have  it  die  unbaptized."  Ah,  it 
is  baptized  in  order  to  make  sure  of  its 
salvation.  Then  it  is  baptism  that  saves 
the  soul,  and  the  death  of  Christ  was 
needless.  The  application  of  water  to 
the  body  will  cleanse  and  sanctify  the 
soul.  But  it  may  be  said,  "  the  death  of 
Christ  and  baptism  together  will  save  it." 
Then  Christ's  sacrifice  was  insufiicient 
and  needs  to  be  supplemented  by  some- 
thing to  make  its  virtue  complete.  When 
he  died  he  cried  "  It  is  finished,"  and  we 
believe  that  redemption  was  then  per- 
fected. 

But  another  says :  "We  must  baptize 
our  children  to  bring  them  into  the 
Christian  fold."  Then  baptism  is  the 
"  door."  Where  in  the  holy  book  is  it 
spoken  of  as  such  ?  Christ  says  :  "  I  am 
the  door ;  by  me  if  any  man  enter  in  he 
shall  be  saved."    But  does  baptism  really 


59 


bring  them  into  the  fold?  Do  their 
lives  prove  that  they  love  the  Shepherd 
and  hear  his  voice  ?  Do  they  grow  up 
holier  th^n  the  children  of  Baptists  ? 

But  it  may  be  urged  by  another  that 
"Christ  said,  Suffer  little  children  to 
come  unto  me."  Did  he  say  "Suffer 
them  to  be  baptized "  ?  Baptists  bring 
their  children  to  Christ,  and  ask  him  to 
bless  them,  as  those  mothers  did  when 
be  was  on  earth.  We  believe  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  every  parent  to  train  up  his 
children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition 
of  the  Lord,  and  really  to  bring  them  to 
Chiist  by  leading  them  to  exercise  a  liv- 
ing faith  in  him  and  become  his  true 
followers. 

But  still  another  may  thoughtlessly 
say :  "  Oh  !  we  must  have  our  children 
baptized  in  order  to  give  them  a  name." 
In  what  part  of  the  Bible  is  the  giving 
of  a  name  connected  with  baptism  ?  Do 
not  the  children  of  Baptists  have  names? 

Dr.  Lange,  already  quoted,  says: 
"  Would  the  Protestant  church  fulfill  and 
attain  to  its  final  destiny,  the  baptism  of 
new-born  children  must  of  necessity  be 


I" " ' 

XI' 


6o 

abolished.  It  has  sunk  down  to  a  mere 
formality,  without  any  meaning  for  the 
child." — History  of  Protestantism^  p.  34. 


IX 

Baptism:  the  Mode 

Baptists  hold  that  scriptural  Christian 
baptism  is  the  immersion  of  a  believer 
in  water,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Spirit.  This  they  believe  the 
word  of  God  plainly  teaches. 

"  Then  went  out  to  him  Jerusalem,  and 
all  Judea,  and  all  the  region  round  about 
Jordan,  and  were  baptized  of  him  in 
Jordan,  confessing  their  sins  "  (Matt.  3  : 

5,6). 

"  And  were  all  baptized  of  him  in  the 
river  of  Jordan,"  etc.  (Mark  i  :  5). 

"And  Jesus,  when  he  was  baptized, 
went  up  straightway  out  of  the  water  " 
(Matt.  3  :  16). 

"And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days 
that  Jesus  came  from  Nazareth  of  Gali- 
lee, and  was  baptized  of  John  in  Jordan. 


|J 


6i 

And  straightway  coining  up  out  of  the 
water,"  etc.  (Mark  i  :  9,  10). 

**And  John  also  was  baptizing  in 
Enon  near  to  Salim,  because  there  was 
much  water  there  "  (John  3  :  23). 

"  And  they  went  down  both  into  the 
water,  both  Philip  and  the  eunuch ;  and 
he  baptized  him.  And  when  they  were 
come  up  out  of  the  water,"  etc.  (Acts  8  : 

38,  39)- 

"  Therefore  we  are  buried  with  him  by 

baptism  into  death:  that  like  as  Christ 

was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by  the  glory 

of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also  should 

walk  in  newness  of  life  "  (Rom.  6  :  4). 

"  Buried  with  him  in  baptism,  wherein 
also  ye  are  risen  with  him  through  the 
faith  of  the  operation  of  God,  who  hath 
raised  him  from  the  dead  "  (Col.  2  :  12). 

It  is  clear  that  they  went  down  into 
the  water,  and  came  up  out  of  the  water ; 
but  what  was  the  act  performed  while 
they  were  there  ?  This  is  the  point  at 
issue.  The  act  is  always  expressed  by  a 
certain  word,  in  one  or  other  of  its  forms. 

The  unvarying  use  of  this  one  word  is 
very  significant.     If  mode  is  a  matter  of 


'iJpl 


62 

indifference,  why  is  one,  distinct  definite 
term  always  employed  ?  If  a  variety  of 
modes  was  intended,  why  do  we  not  find 
a  variety  of  terms  used  ?  There  was  no 
poverty  of  words  or  forms  of  expression, 
for  the  Greek  was  a  remarkably  rich  and 
copious  language.  There  were  ranttzoy 
to  sprinkle ;  keo^  to  pour  ;  louo^  to  wash, 
and  other  words  to  express  the  various 
ways  in  which  water  could  be  applied  to 
the  person  or  the  person  to  water.  How 
strange  that  some  of  these  were  not  occa- 
sionally used  by  some  of  the  writers  in 
the  New  Testament !  But  it  is  always 
baptizo.  Evidently  one  definite  act  was 
intended.  Let  us  then  call  for  evidence 
concerning  the  meaning  of  this  word ; 
for  if  we  can  ascertain  that,  we  shall  know 
what  Christ  and  his  apostles  practised 
and  commanded.     We  turn  first  to : 


LEXICONS  OF  THE  GREEK  LANGUAGE. 

Groves.  To  dip,  immerse,  immerge, 
plunge. 

ScHREVELius.  To  merge^  to  bathe. 

Greenfield.  To  immerse,  immerge 
submerge,  sink. 


LiDDELL  AND  Scott.  To  dip  in  or 
under  water ;  of  ships,  to  sink  them ; 
Baptists^  a  dipping ;  Baptismos^  a  dipping 
in  water ;  Baptisies^  one  that  dips. 

Dawson  (enlarged  and  revised  by 
Taylor).  To  dip,  or  immerse  in  water. 

DONNEGAN.  To  immerse  repeatedly 
into  a  liquid,  to  submerge. 

Bass.  To  dip,  immerse,  or  plunge  in 
water. 

Robinson.  To  dip  in,  to  sink,  to  im- 
merse; a  frequentative  in  form,  but  ap- 
parently not  in  signification. 

Pickering.  To  dip,  immerse,  sub- 
merge, plunge. 

Dunbar.  To  dip,  immerse,  submerge, 
plunge,  sink. 

SCAPUI.A.  To  dip  or  immerse;  also  to 
dye,  as  we  immerse  things  for  the  pur- 
pose of  coloring  or  washing  them. 

Bagster.  To  dip,  immerse,  to  cleanse 
or  purify  by  washing. 

Jones.  To  plunge,  to  plunge  in  water, 
dip,  baptize,  bury,  overwhelm. 

It  is  needless  to  extend  this  list.  The 
same  meanings  are  given  by  Alstidius, 
Bailey,  Schcettgenius,  Parkhurst,  Pasor, 


% 


64 

Hedericus,  Young,  Robertson,  Stockius, 
Sophocles,  Suidas,  Schleusner,  Bret- 
schneider,  Suicerus,  Richardson,  and 
others.  All  agree  in  giving  dip,  or  im- 
merse, as  the  ordinary  meaning  of  the 
word.  If  the  Greek  lexicon  has  ever  yet 
been  published  which  gives  sprinkle  as 
the  meaning  of  baptizo^  it  has  been  most 
carefully  concealed,  and  kept  out  of 
reach  of  those  who  have  investigated 
this  question.  Writers  on  the  subject 
have  sometimes  made  the  assertion  that 
such  lexicons  exist ;  but  this  assertion 
requires  to  be  substantiated,  for  grave 
doubts  rest  upon  the  truth  of  it.  But 
the  important:  fact  is  that  all  lexicogra- 
phers of  any  note  are  unanimous  in  their 
definition  of  the  ordinary  meaning  of  the 
word. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  the 


STANDARD  ENCYCLOPEDIAS. 

KNCYCI.OPEDIA  Britannica.  "  Bap- 
tism is  derived  from  the  Greek  baptizo^  to 
dip  or  wash.  The  usual  mode  of  per- 
forming the  ceremony  was  by  immersion, 
but  the  practice  of  baptism  by  sprinkling 


it 

gradually  came  in,  in  spite  of  the  oppo- 
sition of  councils  and  hostile  decrees. 
The  Council  of  Ravenna,  A.  d.  1311,  was 
the  first  council  of  the  church  which  le- 
galized baptism  by  sprinkling,  by  leaving 
it  to  the  choice  of  the  officiating  minis- 
ter.^* 

Edinburgh  Encyclopedia.  "  The 
first  law  for  sprinkling  was  obtained  in 
the  following  manner :  Pope  Stephen  II., 
being  driven  from  Rome  by  Astolphus, 
king  of  the  Lombards,  a.  d.  753,  fled  to 
Pepin,  who  a  short  time  before  had 
usurped  the  throne  of  France.  While 
he  remained  there  the  monks  of  Cressy, 
in  Brittany,  consulted  him  whether,  in 
case  of  necessity,  baptism  performed  by 
pouring  water  on  the  head  of  the  infant 
would  be  lawful,  and  Stephen  replied  that 
it  would.  But  though  the  truth  of  this 
fact  be  allowed, — which  some  Catholics 
deny, — yet  pouring  and  sprinkling  were 
only  admitted  in  cases  of  necessity.  It 
was  not  till  131 1  that  the  legislature,  in 
a  council  held  at  Ravenna,  declared  im- 
mersion to  be  indifferent.  In  this  coun- 
try (Scotland),  however,  sprinkling  was 


66 


never  practised  in  ordinary  cases  until 
after  the  Reformation.  And  in  England, 
even  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI. ,  im- 
mersion was  commonly  observed.  But 
during  the  persecution  of  Mary  many 
persons,  most  of  whom  were  Scotchmen, 
fled  from  England  to  Geneva,  and  there 
gradually  imbibed  the  opinions  of  that 
church.  In  1556  a  book  was  published  at 
that  place  containing  the  forms  of  prayers 
and  ministrations  of  sacraments  approved 
by  that  famous  and  godly  and  learned 
man,  John  Calvin,  in  which  the  adminis- 
trator is  enjoined  to  take  water  in  his 
hand  and  lay  it  on  the  child's  forehead. 
These  Scottish  exiles,  who  had  renounced 
the  authority  of  the  pope,  implicitly  ac- 
knowledged the  authority  of  Calvin,  and 
returning  to  their  own  country  in  1559, 
with  John  Knox  at  their  head,  established 
sprinkling  in  Scotland.  From  Scotland 
this  practice  made  its  way  into  England, 
in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  but  was  not 
authorized  by  the  Established  Church." 
Chambers*  Cyci^opedia.  "It  is  how- 
ever, indisputable  that  in  the  primitive 
church   the   ordinary  mode  of  baptism 


67 

was  by  immersion,  in  order  to  which 
baptisteries  began  to  be  erected  in  the 
third,  perhaps  in  the  second  century." 
Again,  **  It  was  the  ordinary  practice  in 
England,  before  the  Reformation,  to 
immerse  infants,  and  the  fonts  in  the 
churches  were  made  large  enough  for 
this  purpose." 

Encyclopedia  Americana.  "Bap- 
tism, that  is,  dipping,  immersing,  from 
the  Greek  word  baptizo.  In  the  time  of 
the  apostles  the  form  of  baptism  was 
very  simple.  The  person  to  be  baptized 
was  dipped  in  a  river  or  vessel,  with  the 
words  which  Christ  had  ordered.  The 
immersion  of  the  whole  body  was  omit- 
ted only  in  the  case  of  the  sick,  who 
could  not  leave  their  beds." 

KiTTo's  Cyclopedia  of  Bibucal 
Literature.  "The  whole  body  was 
immersed  in  water." 

National  Cyclopedia.  "The  man- 
ner in  which  the  rite  of  baptism  was 
performed  appears  to  have  been  at  first 
by  complete  immersion.  It  was  the  prac- 
tice of  the  English,  from  the  beginning, 
to  immerse  the  whole  body." 


li  '  r 


68 

Smith's  Bible  Dictionary.  **The 
language  of  the  New  Testament,  and  of 
the  primitive  fathers,  sufficiently  points 
to  immersion  as  the  common  mode  of 
baptism  "  (Vol.  I.,  p.  241). 

CHURCH  HISTORIANS. 

MoSHEiM,  Chancellor  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Gottingen  in  1755.  "In  this 
(first)  century  baptism  was  adminis- 
tered in  convenient  places  without  the 
public  assemblies,  and  by  immersing  the 
candidates  wholly  in  water." — ^celestas- 
tical  History^  Vol.  I.,  p.  104. 

Again  he  says  (second  century) :  "  The 
candidates  for  it  (baptism)  were  im- 
mersed wholly  in  water,  with  invocation 
of  the  sacred  Trinity,  according  to  the 
Saviour's  precept"  (Vol.  I.,  p.  179). 

Neander,  already  quoted  on  another 
subject.  "  The  usual  form  of  submersion 
at  baptism,  practised  by  the  Jews,  was 
passed  over  to  the  Gentile  Christians. 
Indeed  this  form  was  the  most  suitable  to 
signify  that  Christ  intended  to  render  an 
object  of  contemplation  by  such  a  sym- 
bol ;  the  immersion  of  the  whole  man  in 


.-^i 


69 

the  spirit  of  a  new  life." — Planting  and 
Training  of  the  Christian  Churchy  J.  i^i- 

GuERiCKE,  Henry  E.  F.,  Doctor  and 
Professor  of  Theology,  of  Halle.  "  Bap- 
tism was  originally  performed  by  immer- 
sion in  the  name  of  the  Trinity." — An- 
dent  Church  History^  p.  141. 

Venp^ma  (seventeenth  century).  "  It 
is  without  controversy  that  baptism  in  the 
primitive  church  was  administered  by 
immersion  into  water,  and  not  by  sprin- 
kling. The  essential  act  of  baptizing  in 
the  second  century  consisted  not  in 
sprinkling,  but  in  immersion  into  water, 
in  the  name  of  each  person  of  the  Trin- 
ity. To  the  essential  rite  of  baptism  in 
the  third  century  pertained  immersion 
and  not  aspersion,  except  in  cases  of  ne- 
cessity, and  it  was  accounted  a  half-per- 
fect baptism.  Immersion  in  the  fourth 
century  was  one  of  those  acts  that  were 
considered  as  essential  to  baptism." — Ec- 
clesiastical History^  Cent.  I.,  par.  138 ; 
Cent.  II.,  par.  100 ;  Cent.  III.,  par.  51 ; 
Cent.  IV.,  par.  100. 

Kurtz,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory at  Dorpat.  "  Baptism  was  adminis- 


■ill 

if! 


70 


■^1 


tered  by  a  complete  immersion  in  the 
name  of  Christ,  or  the  Triune  God." — 
Ecclesiastical  History^  Vol.  I.,  p.  70. 

SCHAFF,  Dr.  Philip,  of  New  York. 
"  The  usual  form  of  the  act  was  immer- 
sion, as  is  plain  from  the  original  mean- 
ing of  the  Greek  words,  from  the  anal- 
ogy of  John's  baptism  in  the  Jordan,  .  . 
and  finally  from  the  custom  of  the  an- 
cient church,  which  prevails  in  the  East 
to  this  day." — History  of  Ancient  Chris- 
tianity (First  Cent),  Vol.  I.,  p.  123. 

"Immersion  continued  to  be  the  usual 
form  of  baptism,  especially  in  the  East." 
— Same  work  (Fourth  Cent.),  Vol.  II.,  p. 
486. 

COMMENTATORS,  ETC. 
Reformers, 

Martin  Luther,  on  the  Sacrament 
of  Baptism  (at  the  beginning).  "  First, 
the  name  baptism  is  Greek ;  in  Latin  it 
can  be  rendered  immersion,  when  we  im- 
merse anything  into  water,  that  it  may 
be  all  covered  with  water.  And  although 
that  custom  has  now  grown  out  of  use 
with  most  persons  (nor  do  they  wholly 


71 

submerge  children,  but  only  pour  on  a 
little  water),  yet  they  ought  to  be  entirely 
immersed,  and  immediately  drawn  out. 
For  this  the  etymology  of  the  name 
seems  to  demand." — Op.  Lutheri^  1564, 
Vol.  1.,  folio  319. 

John  Calvin.  "The  word  baptize  it- 
self signifies  immerse,  and  it  is  certain 
that  the  rite  of  immersing  was  observed 
by  the  ancient  church. '^ — Institution  oj 
the  Christian  Religion^  Book  IV.,  Chap. 
XV. 

ZwiNGLr.  "  Into  his  death ;  when  ye 
were  immersed  into  the  water  of  baptism 
ye  were  ingrafted  into  the  death  of 
Christ ;  that  is,  the  immersion  of  yotir 
body  into  water  was  a  sign  that  ye  ought 
to  be  ingrafted  into  Christ  and  his 
death." — Annotations  on  Rom,  6  :  j, 
Works^  Vol.  IV.,  p.  4^0. 

WiLUAM  Tyndale.  •*  The  plunging 
into  the  water  signifieth  that  we  die,  and 
are  buried  with  Christ,  as  concerning  the 
old  life  of  sin,  which  is  Adam.  And  the 
pulling  out  again  signifieth  that  we  rise 
again  with  Christ  in  a  new  life,  full  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  which  s)  ill  teach  us 


and  guide  us,  and  work  the  will  of  God 
in  us,  as  thou  seest.  Rom.  6." — Obedience 
of  a  Christian  Man^  edition  of  1571,  p. 

143- 

Roman  Catholic* 

Est,  Chancellor  of  the  University  of 
Douay.  "  For  immersion  represents  to  us 
Christ*s  burial,  and  so  also  his  death. 
For  the  tomb  is  the  symbol  of  death, 
since  none  but  the  dead  are  buried. 
Moreover,  the  emersion,  which  follows 
the  immersion,  has  a  resemblance  to  a 
resurrection.  We  are  therefore  in  bap- 
tism conformed  not  only  to  the  death  of 
Christ,  as  he  has  just  said,  but  also  to  his 
burial  and  resurrection." — Commentary 
on  the  Epistles^  Rom,  6  :  j, 

Brenner.  "Thirteen  hundred  years 
was  baptism  generally  and  regularly  an 
immersion  of  the  person  under  the  water, 
and  only  in  extraordinary  cases  a  sprin- 
kling or  pouring  with  water ;  the  latter 
was,  moreover,  disputed  as  a  mode  of 
baptism,  nay,  even  forbidden." — Histor- 
ical Exhibition  of  the  Administration  0/ 
Baptism  from  Christ  to  our  own  Times ^'^ 
p.  306. 


73 

Bishop  Bossuet,  of  Meaux,  France 
(died  1704).  "  We  are  able  to  make  it 
appear,  by  the  acts  of  conncils  and  by 
ancient  rituals,  that  for  thirteen  hundred 
years  baptism  was  administered  by  im- 
mersion throughout  the  whole  church, 
as  far  as  possible." 

Episcopalian, 

Archbishop  Tillotson.  "Anciently, 
those  who  were  baptized  were  immersed, 
and  buried  in  the  water,  to  represent 
their  death  to  sin,  and  then  did  rise  up 
out  of  the  water,  to  signify  their  entrance 
upon  a  new  life,  and  to  those  the  apostle 
alludes,  Rom.  6  :  4-6." — Sermons^  Vol. 
VII.,  p.  179. 

Bishop  Tayi^or.  "  And  the  ancient 
churches  did  not,  in  their  baptism,  sprin- 
kle water  with  their  hands,  but  immersed 
the  catechumen  or  the  infant."  After 
some  references  in  proof  of  this  asser- 
tion he  adds :  "  All  which  are  a  perfect 
conviction,  that  the  custom  of  the  ancient 
churches  was  not  sprinkling,  but  immer- 
sion, in  pursuance  to  the  sense  of  the 
word  in  the  commandment,  and  the  ex- 


74 


ample  of  our  blessed  Saviour." — Riile  of 
Conscience t  Book  III.,  Cliap.  IV.,  Rule 

15- 
Dr.  Whitby.  "It  being  so  expressly 

declared  here  (Rom.  6  : 4  and  Col.  2:12) 
that  we  are  *  buried  with  Christ  in  bap- 
tism,' by  being  buried  under  water,  and 
the  argument  to  oblige  us  to  a  conformity 
to  his  death  by  dying  to  sin,  being  taken 
hence ;  and  this  immersion  being  re- 
ligiously observ^-d  by  all  Christians  for 
thirteen  centuries,  and  approved  by  our 
church,  and  the  change  of  it  into  sprin- 
kling, without  either  any  allowance  from 
the  author  of  this  institution,  or  any  li- 
cense from  any  council  of  the  church,  it 
were  to  be  wished  that  this  custom  might 
be  again  of  general  use." — Commentary 
on  the  New  Testament^  Rom.  6  :  4, 

CONYBEARE     AND     HOWSON.      "It     is 

needless  to  add  that  baptism  was  (unless 
in  exceptional  cases)  administered  by 
immersion,  the  convert  being  plunged 
beneath  the  surface  of  the  water,  to  icp- 
resent  his  death  to  the  life  of  sin,  and 
then  raised  from  his  momentary  burial 
to  represent  his  resurrection  to  the  life  of 


75 

righteousness.  It  must  be  a  subject  of 
regret  that  the  general  discontinuance  of 
this  original  form  of  baptism  (though 
perhaps  necessary  in  our  Northern  cli- 
mates) has  rendered  obscure  to  popular 
apprehension  some  very  important  pas- 
sages of  Scripture." — Life  and  Epistles 
of  Si.  Paul^  Vol.  I.,  p.  439. 

Again  they  say,  in  a  note  on  the  pas- 
sage, **  Buried  with  him  by  baptism," 
"  This  passage  cannot  be  understood,  un- 
less it  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  primi- 
tive baptism  was  by  immersion"  (Vol. 
II.,  p.  169). 

Dr.  CuNNiNGHA?t  Geikie,  author  of 
the  "Life  and  Words  of  Christ,"  the 
most  scholarly  work  of  the  kind,  says  in 
reference  to  the  baptism  of  Jesus :  "  John 
resisted  no  longer,  and  leading  Jesus  into 
the  stream,  the  rite  was  performed.  .  . 
Holy  and  pure  before  sinking  under  the 
water,  he  must  yet  have  risen  from  them 
with  the  light  of  a  higher  glory  in  his 
countenance.  .  .  Past  years  had  been 
buried  in  the  waters  of  the  Jordan.  He 
entered  them  as  Jesus,  the  Son  of  Man ; 
he  rose  from  them  the  Christ  of  God." 


I, 


76 

Dr.  Elucott,  Bishop  of  Gloucester 
and  Bristol,  and  President  of  the  New 
Testament  Revision  Company  in  Eng- 
land, and  Dr.  Plumptre,  Professor  of 
Exegesis  of  the  New  Testament  at 
King's  College,  London,  say  in  their  re- 
cently issued  New  Testament  Commen- 
tary, on  Matt.  3:1:"  The  baptism  was, 
as  the  name  implied,  an  immersion." 
On  ver.  6  they  say :  "  They  came  con- 
fessing their  sins,  i.  e.^  as  the  position  of 
the  word  (baptize)  implies,  in  the  closest 
possible  connection  wi^h  the  act  of  im- 
mersion." On  ve".  II,  "He  shall  bap- 
tize you  with  the  Holy  Ghost,"  etc.,  they 
say:  "As  heard  and  understood  at  the 
time,  the  baptism  with  the  Holy  Ghost 
would  imply  that  the  souls  thus  bap- 
tized would  be  plunged,  as  it  were,  in 
that  creative  and  informing  Spirit  which 
was  the  source  of  life  and  holiness  and 

wisdom." 

Presbyterian, 

Westminster  Assembly  ok  Divines. 
"  In  this  phrase  the  apostle  seemeth  to 
allude  to  the  ancient  manner  of  baptism, 
which  was  to  dip  the  persons  baptized, 


77 

and,  as  it  were,  bury  them  under  the 
water  for  a  while,  and  then  to  draw  them 
out  of  it  and  lift  them  up,  to  represent 
the  burial  of  our  old  man  and  our  resur- 
rection t*^  newness  of  life." — Annotations^ 
published  in  folio^  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Assembly ;   Annotations  on  Rom,  6  : 

Dr.  CHAI.MERS.  "  We  doubt  not  that 
the  prevalent  style  of  administration  in 
the  apustles*  days  was  by  an  actual  sub- 
merging of  the  whole  body  under  water. 
We  advert  to  this  for  the  purpose  of 
throwing  light  on  the  analogy  that  is  in- 
stituted in  these  verses.  Jesus  Christ  by 
death  underwent  this  sort  of  baptism  by 
an  immersion  under  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  whence  he  soon  emerged  again 
by  his  resurrection.  We,  by  being  bap- 
tized into  his  death,  are  conceived  to 
have  made  a  similar  translation,  in  the 
act  of  descending  under  the  water  of 
baptism,  to  have  resigned  an  old  life,  and 
in  the  act  of  ascending  to  emerge  into  a 
second  or  a  new  life.** — Lectures  on  the 
Epistles  to  the  Romans^  on  6  :  j,  ^. 

Dr.  George  CampbeIvI.,  President  of 


7> 

Marischal  College,  Aberdeen.  "  The  word 
baptizein^  both  in  sacred  authors  and  in 
classical,  signifies  *to  dip,'  *to  plunge,* 
*  to  immerse,*  and  was  rendered  by  Ter- 
tullian,  the  oldest  of  the  Latin  fathers, 
tingere^  the  term  used  for  dyeing  cloth, 
which  was  by  immersion.  It  is  always 
construed  suitably  to  this  meaning." — 
Translation  of  the  Gospels ^  Matt,  j  :  ii. 
This  same  writer  says :  "  I  have  heard 
a  disputant,  in  defiance  of  etymology 
and  use,  maintain  that  the  word  rendered 
in  the  New  Testament,  baptize,  means 
more  properly  to  sprinkle  than  to  plunge, 
and  in  defiance  of  all  antiquity  that  the 
former  method  was  the  earliest,  and 
for  many  centuries  the  most  general 
practice  of  baptizing.  One  who  argues 
in  this  manner  never  fails,  with  persons 
of  knowledge,  to  betray  the  cause  he 
would  defend  ;  and  though  with  respect 
to  the  vulgar,  bold  assertions  generally 
succeed  as  well  as  arguments,  sometimes 
better,  yet  a  candid  mind  will  disdain  to 
take  help  of  a  falsehood,  even  in  support 
of  the  truth." — Lectures  on  SysteniaiiJ 
Thiologyy  p.  480. 


n 


Wesleyan, 

John  Wesley.  "  *  Buried  with  him  by 
baptism/  alluding  to  the  ancient  man- 
ner of  baptizing  by  immersion." — Com- 
tnent  on  Rom,  6  :  4. 

Dr.  Adam  Clarke.  "  *  We  are  buried 
with  him  by  baptism  into  death.'  It  is 
probable  that  the  apostle  here  alludes  to 
the  mode  of  administering  baptism  by 
immersion,  the  whole  body  being  put 
under  the  water,  which  seemed  to  say, 
the  man  is  drowned,  is  dead ;  and  when 
he  came  up  out  of  the  water,  he  seemed 
to  have  a  resurrection  to  life ;  the  man  is 
risen  again  ;  he  is  alive !  " — Comment  on 
Rom,  6:4, 

Again  on  the  passage,  "baptized  for 
the  deadj"  h^*  nays  :  "  But  as  they  receive 
baptisn  as  an  emblem  of  death,  in  vol- 
untary •>  2foitK:  under  the  water,  so  they 
rec^'ive  1'  a'  an  emblem  of  the  resurrec- 
tion unto  eternal  life,  in  coming  up  out 
of  the  water  ;  thus  they  are  baptized  for 
the  dead  in  perfect  faith  of  the  resurrec- 
tion."— Comment  on  i  Cor,  ij  :  2p, 

The   above  are  but  a  few  of  the  ex- 


8o 


^; 


tracts  of  similar  import  which  might  be 
given.  All  the  great  German  commen- 
tators and  critics,  such  as  Tholuck, 
Meyer^  Gesenius,  De  Wette,  Bretschnei- 
der,  Fritsche,  Winer,  Rheinwald,  Hahn, 
etc.,  have  said  the  same  thing,  as  also 
Bloomfield,  Doddridge,  Lightfoot,  Moses 
Stuart,  Wall,  Baxter,  Whitefield,  Tower- 
son,  and  many  more.  Volumes  might 
be  filled  with  such  quotations  stating, 
not  in  ambiguous  or  equivocal  lan- 
guage, but  in  the  plainest,  most  unquali- 
fied terms,  that  baptism,  as  instituted 
and  practised  by  Christ  and  the  apostles, 
and  continued  for  centuries,  was  immer- 
sion, and  that  only.  The  man  who 
stands  up  in  these  days  to  defend  sprin- 
kling or  pouring  as  the  primitive  mode 
of  baptism,  has  all  the  learned  Christian 
world  against  him. 

It  is  sometimes  said,  when  we  cite  the 
published  utterances  of  eminent  biblical 
scholars  of  different  denominations  in 
support  of  our  views,  that  we  build  our 
faith  and  practice  more  on  the  words  of 
men  than  on  the  word  of  God.  This  is 
false.     We  build  our  faith  and  practice 


!l' 


8i 


on  nothing  but  the  word  of  God.  And 
we  make  such  quotations  only  to  show 
that  the  highest  authorities  in  ecclesias- 
tical history  and  Scripture  interpretation 
in  all  communions  have  really  taken  the 
same  views  of  God's  word  which  we  do, 
whatever  their  practice  may  have  been. 
Thus  the  doctrines  which  we  hold  be- 
cause we  believe  them  to  be  God's  truth, 
are  supported  by  the  ancient  history  and 
the  scholarship  of  Christendom. 

But  it  is  said,  "  Why  quote  such  utter- 
ances, when  it  is  well  known  that  many 
of  the  men  who  made  them  held  at  the 
same  time  the  faith  and  practice  of  the 
denominations  to  which  they  belonged?" 
We  reply  that  with  that  we  have  nothing 
to  do.  To  their  own  Master  they  stand 
or  fall.  Whether  they  taught  and  prac- 
tised contrary  to  their  convictions  of 
truth  is  not  for  us  to  inquire.  The  fact 
remains  that  they  unanimously  admit  the 
truth  and  scripturalness  and  antiquity  of 
those  very  doctrines  and  practices  which 
we  believe  the  divine  oracles  plainly 
teach.  But  why  did  they  make  such  ad- 
missions?   Genuine   scholarship  and  a 


-n^ 


82 

fearless  honesty  required  it.  And  their 
statements  are  published,  and  therefore 
given  to  the  world. 

Tke  Practice  of  the  Greek  Church, 

The  practice  of  the  Greek  Church  is 
worthy  of  notice.  The  New  Testament 
was  written  in  Greek.  What  can  be 
fairer  than  to  submit  the  question  to  the 
Greeks  themselves?  If  it  had  been 
written  in  the  Arabic  or  Persian  lan- 
guage, certainly  it  would  be  important 
to  ascertain  what  the  original  and  un- 
varying understanding  of  its  terms  had 
been  by  the  Arabs  or  Persians. 

The  Greek,  or  Eastern  Church,  so 
called  in  distinction  from  the  Roman, 
Latin,  or  Western  Church,  extends  over 
Greece  and  all  through  Russia,  from  the 
Blai;k  Sea  to  Siberia,  and  has  branches 
scattered  through  Egypt,  Abyssinia,  Ara- 
bia, Palestine,  and  other  African  and 
Asiatic  countries.  Now  it  is  well  known 
that  the  Greek  Church  has  always  prac- 
tised, and  still  invariably  practises,  im- 
mersion in  baptism,  even  in  the  severe 
climate  of  Northern  Russia. 


^'iS 


S3 

Dr.  Wall,  an  Episcopalian,  vicar  of 
Shoreham,  England,  declares :  "  The 
Greek  Church,  in  all  its  branches,  does 
still  use  immersion,  and  so  do  all  other 
Christians  in  the  world  except  the 
Latins.  All  those  nations  of  Christians 
that  do  now,  or  formerly  did,  submit  to 
the  authority  of  the  bishop  of  Rome,  do 
ordinarily  baptize  their  infants  by  pour- 
ing or  sprinkling ;  but  all  other  Chris- 
tians in  the  world,  who  never  owned  the 
Pope's  usurped  power,  do  and  ever  did, 
dip  their  infants  in  tne  ordinary  use. 
All  the  Christians  in  Asia,  all  in  Africa, 
and  about  one-third  part  of  Europe  are 
of  the  last  sort." — History  of  Infant  Bap- 
tism^ Part  11. ,  Chap.  IX. 

The  celebrated  Dean  Stanley  says : 
"There  can  be  no  question  that  the 
original  form  of  baptism — the  very 
meaning  of  the  word — was  complete  im- 
mersion in  the  deep  baptismal  waters, 
and  that  for  at  least  four  centuries  any 
other  form  was  either  unknown,  or  re- 
garded, unless  in  the  case  of  dangerous 
illness,  as  an  exceptional,  almost  a  mon- 
strous case.     To  this  form  the  Eastern 


84 

Church  still  rigidly  adheres;  and  the 
most  illustrious  and  venerable  portion 
of  it,  that  of  the  Byzantine  Empire, 
absolutely  repudiates  and  ignores  any 
other  mode  of  administration  as  essen- 
tially invalid.  The  I^atin  Church  has 
wholly  altered  the  mode,  and  with  the 
two  exceptions  of  the  cathedral  of 
Milan,  and  the  sect  of  the  Baptists,  a 
few  drops  of  w^ater  are  now  the  Western 
substitute  for  the  three-fold  plunge  into 
the  rushing  rivers,  or  the  wide  baptis- 
teries of  the  East.'' — Lectures  on  the 
History  of  the  Eastern  Churchy  p.  29. 

A1.EXANDER  DE  Stourdza  (of  the 
Greek  Church),  Russian  State  Councillor, 
says :  ''  The  distinctive  characteristic  of 
the  institution  of  baptism  is  immersion, 
baptisma^  which  cannot  be  omitted  with- 
out destroying  the  mysterious  sense  of 
the  sacrament,  and  contradicting  at  the 
same  time  the  etymological  signification 
of  the  word,  which  serves  to  designate  it. 
The  church  of  the  West  has,  then,  de- 
parted from  the  example  of  Jesus  Christ ; 
she  has  obliterated  the  whole  sublimity 
of  the  exterior  sign  ;  in  short,  she  com- 


mits  an  abuse  of  words  and  of  ideas  in 
practising  baptism  by  aspersion,  this  very 
term  being  in  itself  a  derisive  contradic- 
tion. The  verb  baptizo^  immergo^  has  in 
fact,  but  one  sole  accej:  *:ation.  It  signi- 
fies literally,  and  always,  to  plunge. 
Baptism  and  immersion  are  therefore 
identical,  and  to  say  baptism  by  asper- 
sion, is  as  if  one  should  say  immersion 
by  aspersion,  or  any  other  absurdity  of 
the  same  nature." — Considerations  on  the 
Doctrine  and  Spirit  of  the  Orthodox 
Churchy  Stuttgart,  1816,  p.  87. 

Professor  Timayenis,  of  the  New 
York  Hellenic  Institute,  delivered  a  lec- 
ture on  *'  Greece  "  before  a  large  non-de- 
nominational assembly  at  Chautauqua,  in 
August,  1879.  He  is  a  native  Greek, 
born  in  Smyrna,  educated  in  the  schools 
of  Athens,  and  a  member  of  the  Greek 
Church. 

After  discussing  a  number  of  interest- 
ing questions  concerning  his  country,  he 
said  :  "  The  Bible  is  the  'iook  of  Greece. 
It  needs  not  translation  with  the  modern 
Greeks."  And  again  :  "  All  our  services 
are  read  in  the  original  tongue  in  which 


86 


St.  Paul  and  the  other  apostles   wrote 
their  Epistles." 

Further  on  he  says :  "  The  Greeks 
baptize,  of  course.  The  baptism  of  their 
infants  takes  place  at  six  months  after 
birth.  If  the  child  is  going  to  die  they 
believe  it  must  be  baptized  at  once.  I 
am  not  able  to  say  whether  they  believe 
the  child  will  go  to  Paradise  or  not,  but 
there  is  a  great  horror  of  having  a  child 
die  without  baptism.  They  baptize  in 
the  real  way.  The  v/ord  bapto  means 
nothing  but  immerse  in  the  water.  Bap- 
tism means  nothing  but  immersion.  In 
the  Greek  language  we  have  a  different 
word  for  sprinkling.  When  you  put  a 
piece  of  wood  into  the  water,  and  cover 
it  entirely,  you  baptize,  you  do  what  is 
expressed  by  the  Greek  word  bapto,  I 
am  ready  to  discuss  this  with  any  divine 
about  the  Greek  word.  Sprinkling  is 
not  what  the  Bible  teaches ;  that  is  a  fact 
you  may  depend  on.  I  know  that  this 
custom  is  too  deeply  rooted  in  some  con- 
gregations to  be  taken  away  easily,  but 
the  Baptists  have  the  best  of  you  on  this 
point,  .  .  That  is  the  word  we  use,  to 


87 

dip;  you  cannot  go  back  on  it.  It  is 
our  every-day  word.  So  if  I  dip  a  man  I 
baptize  him.  I  say  you  must  cover  some- 
body entirely  with  water  to  use  baptize 
as  the  Greeks  use  it  to-day." 

This  clear  and  decisive  statement  by 
one  who  speaks  the  language  in  which 
the  New  Testament  was  written,  is  con- 
firmed by  Rev.  D.  Z.  Sakellarios,  of 
Athens,  in  a  letter  to  the  author,  dated 
June  25,  1 88 1.  He  also  is  a  native 
Greek,  brought  up  in  the  Greek  Church. 
He  says :  "  The  true  meaning  of  the 
word  baptizo  is  expressed  by  the  word  it- 
self. Rantizo  means  to  sprinkle;  louo^ 
to  wash ;  epikeo^  to  pour  upon.  Bapto^ 
or  baptizo^  means  to  immerse  or  bap- 
tize." He  also  states  that  baptism  in  the 
Greek  Church  is  always  by  immersion, 
the  font  being  called  a  kolumbethra^  lit- 
erally a  swimming  bath. 

The  Greek  Church  then,  numbering 
about  ninety-seven  million  four  hundred 
and  seventy-three  thousand,  and  the  Nes- 
torians,  Maronites,  Copts,  Armenians, 
Jacobite-Syrians,  Abyssinians,  and  other 
Oriental  Christian  sects  to  the  number  of 


88 

about  nine  or  ten  millions  more,  making 
together  over  one  hundred  millions,  have 
from  the  first,  and  still  do  practise  im- 
mersion in  baptism.  That  is,  according 
to  Dr.  Wall,  Dean  Stanley,  and  others, 
all  Christians  in  the  world  except  the 
Church  of  Rome,  and  those  who  came 
out  from  her  at  the  Reformation,  retain 
the  original  mode  of  baptism. 


II 


BAPTISTERIES. 

We  will  now  turn  to  another  class  of 
witnesses,  by  no  means  the  least  interest- 
ing and  satisfactory.  Their  testimony  is 
a  silent  one,  but  most  convincing.  I 
refer  to  the  ancient  baptisteries. 

The  most  ancient  one  is  found  in  the 
Catacomb  of  San  Ponziano  at  Rome.  It 
was  in  those  subterranean  passages  and 
chambers  that  the  early  Christians  of  that 
city  sought  refuge  during  the  dark  days 
of  pagan  persecution.  Here  they  lived 
and  worshiped  and  were  buried.  And 
here  they  constructed  baptisteries  for 
the  administration  of  the  sacred  rite. 
Through  the  Catacomb  of  San  Ponziano 
a  stream  of  water  runs,  the  channel  of 


11' 


89 

which  is  diverted  into  a  reservoir,  which 
was  used  for  administering  baptism  by 
immersion  from  the  first  to  the  fourth 
century.  The  dimensions  of  the  reser- 
voir, which  is  still  full  of  water,  are  four 
and  a  half  feet  in  length,  three  and  a 
half  in  width,  and  three  and  a  half  in 
depth.  (See  North  cote's  Roman  Cata- 
combs^ and  ArchcBolugy  of  Baptism^  by 
Dr.  Cote,  of  Rome.) 

On  the  wall  immediately  above  this 
font  is  a  fresco  painting  representing  the 
baptism  of  our  Saviour.  The  following 
explanation  of  the  painting  is  from  Bot- 
tari's  ^''Roma  Sotterranea^^ Tomol.^  P-  ^94 • 
"  Upon  the  wall,  over  the  arch,  the  Re- 
deemer is  represented  up  to  his  waist  in  the 
waters  of  the  river  Jordan,  and  upon  his 
head  rests  the  right  hand  of  John  the  Bap- 
tist, standing  on  the  shore.  It  is  by  mis- 
take that  modern  artists  represent  Christ 
in  the  Jordan  up  to  his  knees  only,  and 
John  pouring  water  on  his  head.  And 
although  on  the  portico  of  the  church 
of  San  Lorenzo,  outside  of  the  wall  of 
Rome,  that  saint  is  seen  in  a  painting 
PQUring  w^ter  upon  the  head  of  San  Ro- 


gyyi 


i   I 
'i 


90 

mano,  this  was  certainly  not  the  case,  as 
that  picture  is  far  more  modern  (twelfth 
century)  than  those  of  the  first  centuries, 
and  the  artist  was  evidently  ignorant  or 
wrongly  informed  concerning  the  acts  of 
San  lyorenzo.  It  is  not  improbable,  how- 
ever, that  subsequently  it  became  custom- 
ary to  pour  water  upon  the  head  of  the 
catechumen  after  he  had  been  immersed. 
On  the  other  shore  an  angel  is  seen  upon 
a  cloud,  holding  the  Saviour^s  robe ;  the 
Holy  Ghost  descends  like  a  dove  and 
alights  upon  the  Redeemer.  John  places 
his  hand  upon  the  head  of  Christ  to  im- 
merse him." 

A  relic  of  this  kind  is  of  special  impor- 
tance from  the  fact  that  the  Christians 
who  worshiped  in  the  Catacombs  were, 
in  purity  of  doctrine  and  practice,  near- 
est to  the  churches  of  the  apostolic  age. 
This  baptistery  and  painting  in  the  Cata- 
comb of  San  Ponziano  carry  us  back 
almost  to  the  time  of  the  apostles. 

There  are  at  this  day  at  least  sixty- 
three  ancient  baptisteries  existing  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  Italy,  which  many  trav- 
elers have  examined  and  described. 


I 


!■,  , 


91 

One  of  the  most  notable  is  the  baptis- 
tery of  Constantine,  at  Rome.  It  is  in 
connection  with  the  famous  church  of  St. 
John  of  Lateran,  the  oldest,  and  in  some 
respects  the  most  sacred  of  all  the 
churches  of  Rome;  the  ^^ omnium  iirbis  ei 
orbis  ecclesiarum  mater  et  capuL^^  This 
baptistery  I  myself  saw  and  examined  in 
the  month  of  February,  1876.  It  belongs 
to  the  fourth  century.  The  building 
stands  at  a  little  distance  from  the 
church,  is  octagonal  in  form,  and  very 
highly  embellished.  In  the  center  is  a 
circular  basin,  twenty-five  feet  in  diam- 
eter and  three  feet  deep,  lined  and  paved 
with  marble.  A  descent  of  three  steps 
leads  to  the  bottom  of  the  basin,  which 
is  provided  with  a  small  outlet  for  the 
purpose  of  emptying  it  after  the  cere- 
mony had  been  performed.  The  water 
was  conducted  to  the  basin  from  the  ad- 
joining Claudian  aqueduct,  the  remains 
of  which  are  still  standing.  On  the  archi- 
trave, supported  by  the  columns  of  por- 
phyry which  surround  the  basin,  is  a 
long  I^atin  inscription,  which  clearly 
shows  what  its  use  was  in  former  ages. 


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References  to  this  interesting  relic,  and 
to  its  use  for  immersion,  are  found  in 
the  works  of  ancient  Italian  authors. 

We  might  go  on  for  hours  describing 
the  baptisteries  of  Rome,  Naples,  Milan, 
Florence,  Pisa,  Ravenna,  etc.  Such 
structures  are  to  be  found  in  all  the 
principal  cities  of  Italy.  But  the  de- 
scription given  above  will  sufl&ce  to  give 
a  general  idea  of  all.  One  main  feature 
exists  in  them  all,  viz.,  the  large  basin, 
three  or  four  feet  deep,  with  steps  de- 
scending into  it.  There  they  stand,  as 
they  have  stood  for  many  centuries,  si- 
lent, yet  unanswerable  witnesses  to  the 
practice  of  Christians  in  the  early  ages. 

Remains  of  the  same  kind  are  found 
in  France,  Belgium,  Germany,  and  other 
parts  of  Europe. 

The  Venerable  Bede,  the  ecclesiastical 
historian  of  Great  Britain,  says  that 
Paulinus,  the  apostle  of  the  North  of 
England,  who  baptized  King  Edwin,  at 
York,  A.  D.  627,  baptized  also  great  num- 
bers of  people  in  the  rivers  Glen  and 
Swale. — Ecclesiastical  History^  Lib.  11^ 
Cap,  XIV. 


I     ii 

t.'    Si.'f 


■r 


93 

The  following  description  of  one  of 
the  natural  baptisteries  used  by  Paulinus 
is  given  by  a  writer  in  an  English  pa- 
per :  "  About  eleven  miles  from  the 
Cheviot  Hills,  separating  England  and 
Scotland,  and  about  the  same  distance 
from  Alnwick  Castle,  the  celebrated  seat 
of  the  dukes  of  Northumberland,  and 
near  the  village  of  Harbottle,  there  is  a 
remarkable  fountain.  It  rises  on  the  top 
of  a  slight  elevation,  and  just  now  it  is 
thirty-four  feet  long,  twenty  feet  in 
breadth,  and  two  feet  in  depth  ;  but  it  is 
capable  of  being  made  deeper  by  placing 
a  board  over  an  opening  at  one  side. 
The  traditions  of  Northumberland  point 
out  this  fountain  as  one  of  the  baptis- 
teries of  Paulinus,  the  apostle  of  the 
North  of  England,  where  he  immersed 
three  thousand  during  the  Easter  of  a.  d. 
627."  The  "History  of  Northumber- 
land" contains  and  confirms  the  testi- 
mony of  tradition.  An  ancient  statue, 
as  large  ^s  life,  which  formerly  lay  pros- 
trate in  the  spring,  now  stands  against  a 
tree  on  its  margin.  The  drapery  of  *'the 
bishop,"  as  the  statue  is  called,  shows 


'I! 


II 


if    '•  5l 


'  I:  i!f ' 


; 


•'  I 


m 

that  it  was  set  up  at  a  very  remote  period, 
probably  only  two  or  three  centuries  af- 
ter Paulinus,  whom  it  was  doubtless  in- 
tended to  represent.  A  large  crucifix  now 
stands  in  the  center  of  the  fountain, 
which  bears  the  following  inscription: 
"In  this  fountain,  called  the  *  Lady's 
Well,'  on  the  introduction  of  Christian- 
ity in  the  Saxon  reign  of  Edwin,  and 
early  in  the  seventh  century,  Paulinus, 
an  English  bishop,  baptized  about  three 
thousand  people.  The  *  Lady's  Well '  is 
some  thirty  or  forty  miles  from  Newcas- 
tle, and  is  full  of  interest  to  the  anti- 
quary."— W.  Cathcart,  d.  d.,  in  Religious 
Herald, 

Dean  Stanley,  already  quoted  as  to 
the  subjects  of  baptism,  says  in  his 
"  Nineteenth  Century  "  article,  above  re- 
ferred to :  "  What  then  was  baptism  in 
the  apostolic  age  ?  .  .  In  that  early  age 
the  scene  of  the  transaction  was  either 
some  deep  wayside  spring  or  well,  as  for 
the  Ethiopian,  or  some  rushing  river,  as 
the  Jordan,  or  some  vast  reservoir,  as  at 
Jericho  or  Jerusalem,  whither,  as  in  the 
baths  of  Caracalla,  at  Rome,  the  whole 


95 

population  resorted    for    swimming   or 
washing." 

Again  he  says :  "  We  now  pass  to  the 
changes  in  the  form  itself.  For  the  first 
thirteen  centuries  the  almost  universal 
practice  of  baptism  was  that  of  which  we 
read  in  the  New  Testament,  and  which 
is  the  very  meaning  of  the  word  *  bap- 
tize'— that  those  who  were  baptized 
were  plunged,  submerged,  immersed  into 
the  water.  That  practice  is  still,  as  we 
have  seen,  continued  in  Eastern  churches. 
In  the  Western  churches  it  still  lingers 
among  Roman  Catholics  in  the  solitary 
instance  of  the  cathedral  of  Milan, 
among  Protestants  in  the  austere  sect  of 
the  Baptists.  It  lasted  long  in  the  Middle 
Ages.  Even  the  Icelanders,  who  at  first 
shrank  from  the  water  of  their  freezing 
lakes,  were  reconciled  when  they  found 
that  they  could  use  the  warm  water  of 
the  geysers.  And  the  cold  climate  of 
Russia  has  not  been  found  an  obstacle  to 
its  continuance  throughout  that  vast  em- 
pire. Even  in  the  Church  of  England  it 
is  still  observed  in  theory.  Elizabeth 
and   Edward  the  Sixth  were  both  im- 


it« 


?i 


! 


h 
■p.  ■ 


:  I 


96 


fl^i'i 


1: 3ti: 


mersed.  The  rubric  in  the  Public  Bap- 
tism of  Infants  enjoins  that,  unless  for 
special  cases,  they  are  to  be  dipped,  not 
sprinkled.  But  in  practice  it  gave  way 
since  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  .  .  It  (immersion)  had  no  doubt 
the  sanction  of  the  apostles  and  of  their 
Master.  It  had  the  sanction  of  the  ven- 
erable churches  of  the  early  ages,  and  of 
the  sacred  countries  of  the  East.  Bap- 
tism by  sprinkling  was  rejected  by  the 
whole  ancient  church  (except  in  the  rare 
cases  of  death-beds  or  extreme  necessity) 
as  no  baptism  at  all.  .  .  The  change 
from  immersion  to  sprinkling  has  set 
aside  the  larger  part  of  the  apostolic  lan- 
guage regarding  baptism,  and  has  altered 
the  very  meaning  of  the  word." 

While  there  is  no  doubt  that  this  emi- 
nent scholar  is  worthy  of  full  confidence 
as  an  ecclesiastical  historian,  and  we  ac- 
cept his  statements  as  to  historical  facts, 
yet  when  he  comes  to  matters  of  opinion, 
we  dissent  most  absolutely  and  emphati- 
cally from  the  grounds  on  which  he 
justifies  the  change  from  immersion  to 
sprinkling,  viz.,  that  man's  convenience 


;  ■,;! 


97 


and  tastes  and  preferences  may  modify 
and  override  the  commands  of  Christ 
and  the  practice  of  the  apostles.  If  this 
principle  is  once  admitted,  where  shall 
we  stop?  We  may  go  on  introducing 
changes  and  innovations  until  there  is 
scarcely  a  feature  of  the  original  left. 
This  principle  lies  at  the  bottom  of  all 
the  corruptions  which  disfigure  Chris- 
tianity to-day.  It  is  a  monstrous  doc- 
trine, that  man  has  a  right  to  modify  his 
I^ord*s  commands,  and  substitute  his 
own  fancies  and  inventions. 

The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  of  the 
Church  of  England  contains  the  follow- 
ing directions. 

"For  the  Public  Baptism  of  Infants: 

"Then  the  Priest  shall  take  the  child 
into  his  hands  and  shall  say  to  the  God- 
fathers and  Godmothers,  Name  this  child. 

"And  then  naming  it  after  them  (if 
they  shall  certify  him  that  the  child 
may  well  endure  it)  he  shall  dip  it  in  the 
water  discreetly  and  warily. 

"  But  if  they  certify  that  the  child  is 
weak  it  shall  suffice  to  pour  water  upon 
it 

G 


::| 


ni*^ ' 


i  I 


98 


"The  Public  Baptism  of  such  as  are  of 
riper  years : 

"Then  shall  the  Priest  take  each  per- 
son to  be  baptized  by  the  right  hand, 
and  placing  him  conveniently  by  the 
Font,  according  to  his  discretion,  shall 
ask  the  Godfathers  and  Godmothers  the 
name;  and  then  shall  dip  him  in  the 
water,  or  pour  water  upon  him." 

And  yet  there  are  persons,  with  that 
book  in  their  hands,  and  who  ought  to 
know  what  it  contains,  seeing  that  they 
regard  it  as  such  high  authority,  who 
will  ridicule  the  Baptists  for  "  dipping." 
What  refreshing  consistency ! 

One  of  the  weak  objections  sometimes 
urged  by  the  opponents  of  Baptist  prin- 
ciples is  this,  that  the  Jordan  was  such 
an  inconsiderable  stream  that  there  was 
not  suflScient  depth  of  water  for  the  im- 
mersion of  the  multitudes  by  John. 

Lieutenant  Lynch,  of  the  United 
States  Navy,  was  sent  by  his  govern- 
ment, in  1848,  in  charge  of  an  expedi- 
tion to  explore  the  river  Jordan  and  the 
Dead  Se?,  for  antiquarian  and  scientific 
purposes.     They  passed  down  the  entire 


/ 


99 

length  of  the  Jordan  in  boats,  from  the 
lake  of  Galilee  to  the  Dead  Sea. 

"  The  river  was  found  to  vary  in  width 
from  seventy-five  to  two  hundred  feet ; 
and  in  depth  from  three  to  twelve  feet. 
At  Bethabara,  where  tradition  has  fixed 
the  place  of  our  Saviour's  baptism,  and 
where  John  baptized  the  multitudes, 
Lieutenant  Lynch  gives  the  width  as  one 
hundred  and  twenty  feet,  and  the  great- 
est depth  as  twelve  feet." — Lynches  Dead 
Sea  Expedition^  Chap.  X.,  XI. 

Rev.  Dr.  Edward  Robinson,  of  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  New  York,  who 
visited  Palestine  in  1840,  fully  corrobo- 
rates the  above  statements  as  to  the 
abundance  of  water  in  the  Jordan.  (Robin- 
son*s  "  Biblical  Researches,"  Vol.  II.,  Sec. 
10,  pp.  257-267.)  Also  Dean  Stanley, 
who  traveled  in  the  Holy  Land  in  1853 
("Syria  and  Palestine,"  Chap.  VIL,  pp. 
306, 307) ;  and  Dr.  Thomson,  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century  a  missionary  in  Syria,  who 
visited  the  Jordan  and  witnessed  the  bath- 
ing of  the  pilgrims  in  1857  ( "The  Land 
and  the  Book,"  Vol.  II.,  pp.  445,  446),  add 
their  testimony  to  these  same  facts. 


;a>i 


M 


'1.1 


lii  !» 


w 


/ 


i      ,  !  ' 


lOO 

The  author  of  this  little  book  visited 
the  Holy  Land  in  December,  1878,  and 
bathed  in  the  Jordan  at  the  traditional 
place  of  baptism,  east  of  Jericho.  At 
that  time  the  water  was  low,  and  at  that 
particular  place  was  comparatively  shal- 
low, and  yet  it  was  waist-deep  at  one- 
third  of  the  way  across,  and  to  have 
gone  farther  would  have  required  swim- 
ming. Both  above  and  below  this  place 
it  was  much  deeper. 

It  has  also  been  said  that  there  were  no 
facilities  at  Jerusalem  for  the  immersion 
of  three  thousand  people  in  one  day. 

Now,  the  fact  is  that  the  water  supply 
of  the  city  was  very  abundant,  consider- 
ing that  Jerusalem  was  but  a  small  city 
comparatively.  There  were,  within  the 
walls  and  outside,  in  the  immediate  vi- 
cinity, various  tanks  and  reservoirs  of 
very  large  proportions.  Some  of  them 
may  be  briefly  described. 

"The  pool  of  Bethesda  is  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty  feet  long,  one  hundred 
and  thirty  wide,  and  seventy-five  deep. 

"  The  pool  of  Siloam  is  fifty-three  feet 
long,  eighteen  wide,  and  nineteen  deep. 


T 


i 


xoi 


It  now  holds  two  or  three  feet  of  water, 
which  can  readily  be  increased  to  a  much 
greater  depth.  It  was  to  this  pool  that 
Christ  sent  the  blind  man  to  wash  (John 
9  :  7).  Therefore  it  might  be  used  for 
bathing  purposes. 

"The  Upper  Pool  is  three  hundred 
and  sixteen  feet  long,  two  hundred  and 
eighteen  wide,  and  eighteen  deep,  cover- 
ing an  acre  and  a  half  of  ground. 

"The  pool  of  Hezekiah  is  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  feet  long,  one  hundred 
and  forty-four  wide,  and  is  partly  filled 
with  water. 

"The  Lower  Pool,  or  pool  of  Gihon, 
is  five  hundred  and  ninety-two  feet  long, 
two  hundred  and  sixty  wide,  and  forty 
deep,  having  an  area  of  more  than  three 
and  a  half  acres.  The  pool  is  now  dry, 
but  so  late  as  the  time  of  the  Crusaders 
was  fully  supplied  with  water,  and  free 
to  the  use  of  all." 

There  were  several  other  pools  in  or 
near  the  city.  They  were  all  constructed 
so  as  to  make  a  descent  into  the  water 
safe  and  easy,  and  were  doubtless  in 
constant  use  for  purposes  of  ablution. 


1 1 


i.     ' 


r 


1 1. 


'     ii 


109 


For  corroboration  of  the  above  de- 
scriptions see  Robinson^s  "Biblical  Re- 
searches," Vol.  I.,  pp.  480-515,  and  Thom- 
son's "  The  Land  and  the  Book,"  Vol.  II., 
pp.  64,  446. 

One  of  the  most  eminent  authorities 
as  to  the  above  facts  is  Doctor  Barclay, 
for  many  years  a  missionary  in  Jerusa- 
lem. His  book  is  "The  City  of  the 
Great  King." 

It  has  sometimes  been  objected  that 
the  Christians  would  not  have  been  al- 
lowed to  use  these  pools  for  baptism. 
But  do  we  not  read  immediately  after  the 
record  of  the  baptism  of  the  three  thou- 
sand (Acts  2  :  41),  that  they  had  favor 
with  all  the  people?    (Ver.  47.) 

Doctor  Thomson,  the  missionary  to 
Palestine  already  quoted,  in  seeking  to 
locate  the  scene  of  the  eunuch's  baptism 
by  Philip,  says :  "  He  would  then  have 
met  the  chariot  somewhere  southwest  of 
Matron.  There  is  a  fine  stream  of  water, 
called  Murubbah,  deep  enough  even  in 
June  to  satisfy  the  utmost  wishes  of  our 
Baptist  friends." — The  Land  and  the 
Book^  Vol.  II.,  p.  310. 


103 

The  objection  has  frequently  been 
raised  that  the  three  thousand  persons 
baptized  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  could 
not  have  been  immersed  because  it  would 
be  impossible  for  such  a  great  number  to 
be  baptized  in  that  manner  in  a  single 
day.  This  statement  is  based  on  igno- 
rance. To  show  that  it  is  simply  a  rash 
conjecture,  made  without  any  data,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  cite  a  few  facts. 

At  Velumpilly,  ten  miles  north  of  On- 
gole,  in  the  Madras  Presidency,  in  the 
month  of  July,  1878,  two  thousand  two 
hundred  and  twenty-two  persons  were 
baptized  by  immersion  in  one  day.  The 
administration  of  the  ordinance  was  char- 
acterized by  due  decorum  and  solemnity. 
There  were  six  administrators,  but  only 
two  of  them  at  a  time  wc  "e  engaged  in 
baptizing.  They  relieved  each  other 
when  necessary.  It  occupied  abouw  aine 
hours. 

At  Ongole,  the  writer  baptized  one 
hundred  and  eighty-seven  persons  on 
Sunday  evening,  April  11,  1880.  There 
was  no  undue  haste.  The  usual  formula 
was  de^  ^beratelj^  pronounced  at  the  bap* 


L  ,1 ! 


104 

tism  of  each  one.  The  service  occupied 
about  an  hour  and  a  half.  More  instances 
of  this  kind  could  be  adduced.  These  are 
sufficient,  however,  for  our  purpose. 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  thought  by  some 
that  I  have  dwelt  at  unnecessary  length 
on  the  proofs  of  that  which  is  freely  ad- 
mitted by  so  many.  I  reply  that  while 
it  is  true  that  the  greatest  Chns^ian 
scholars  acknowledge  the  truth  and 
scripturalness  of  our  views  of  baptism, 
both  as  regards  the  subjects  and  the 
mode,  yet  there  are  many  persons  who, 
never  having  looked  fully  into  these 
questions,  consider  us  in  error ;  and  it  is 
against  our  baptismal  views  particularly 
that  the  strongest  opposition  and  most 
bitter  prejudice  of  our  Pedobaptist 
friends  are  manifested.  Many  who  speak 
against  our  doctrine  and  practice  of  bap- 
tism evidently  do  not  know  the  testi- 
mony of  history  with  regard  to  it,  nor 
what  so  many  truly  learned  and  candid 
Pedobaptists  have  written.  These  facts, 
then,  must  be  my  justification  if,  indeed, 
any  is  required,  for  devoting  so  much 
time  to  this  part  of  the  subject. 


'jiill 


105 


Close  Communion 


We  now  come  to  that  much  misunder- 
stood and  misrepresented  subject,  that 
terrible  bugbear— close  communion. 
What  strange  misapprehensions  exist  in 
regard  to  it,  and  what  groundless  objec- 
tions are  urged  against  it !  Surely  no 
subject  has  ever  be:n  more  unfairly 
treated.  What  pointless  discussions  and 
illogical  reasonings  have  been  expended 
upon  it !  And  what  an  amount  of  unde- 
served opprobrium  has  bten  heaped  upon 
its  advocates !  Let  us  look  at  it  fairly, 
and  we  will  find  that  all  the  prejudice 
against  it  is  utterly  without  foundation. 

In  the  first  place.  Baptists  believe  on 
this  subject  just  what  all  other  evangeli- 
cal denominations  of  Christians  believe, 
viz.,  that  baptism  should  precede  the 
Lord's  Supper.  They  believe  that  the 
whole  tenor  of  Scripture  teaching  on  the 
subject,  as  well  as  the  nature  and  mutual 
relation  of  the  two  ordinances,  estab- 
lishes a  fixed  order  between  them,  and 


ft' I 


1 


•Hi 


{y; 


mi 
m 


!^i 


If 


''  i   , 


•'•V;:?! 


<  4 


io6 

that  to  place  the  Lord's  Supper  before 
baptism  is  to  reverse  this  ordei.  The 
highest  authorities  might  be  cited  to 
show  that  this  is  the  almost  universal 
belief  of  Christeudom.  Roman  Cath- 
olics, Episcopalians,  Presbyterians,  Lu- 
therans, Methodists,  Congregationalists, 
etc.,  hold  that  none  ought  to  partake  of 
the  second  ordinance  who  have  not  ob- 
served the  first.  None  of  these  admit  the 
unbaptized  to  the  Lord's  table.  Now  this 
is  close  communion.  The  only  really 
open  communionists  are  those  (if  any 
such  exist)  who  hold  that  no  conditions 
or  qualifications  are  necessary  to  a  right 
approach  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  who 
admit  all  who  choose  to  come,  baptized 
or  unbaptized,  converted  or  unconverted. 
As  soon  as  any  qualification  whatever  is  re- 
quired the  communion  ceases  to  be  open. 
All  denominations  require  certain  qualifi- 
cations :  therefore,  all  are  close  commun- 
ionists. And  all  make  baptism  an  indis- 
pensable qualification :  therefore,  all  are 
close  communionists  on  the  very  ground 
which  is  so  much  complained  of  in  Bap- 
tists.    Strictly  speaking,   then.  Baptists 


I07 


are  no  more  chargeable  with  close  coin- 
munion  than  others.  So  that  all  the  un- 
kind feelings  and  hard  words  with  which 
they  are  so  often  assailed  on  the  com- 
munion question  are  unreasonable,  and 
betray  either  a  state  of  ignorance  that  is 
pitiable,  or  an  ungenerous  disposition 
that  is  certainly  very  unlike  the  spirit  of 
Christ.  Thus  far,  then.  Baptists  and  all 
others  are  agreed,  viz.,  that  baptism 
should  precede  the  I^ord's  Supper. 

Secondly.  Already  has  been  shown 
what  we  believe  to  be  scriptural  bap- 
tism; that  ground  need  not,  therefore, 
be  gone  over  again  at  any  length.  In 
brief,  we  believe  that  the  infallible  stand- 
ard— ^the  word  of  God — ^plainly  teaches, 
and  ecclesiastical  history  and  the  high- 
est Christian  scholarship  fully  confirm 
the  doctrine,  that  Christian  baptism  is 
the  immersion  of  a  believer  in  water,  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Spirit,  and  that  nothing  else  answers 
the  requirements  of  God's  word. 

Now  put  these  two  things  together, 
and  what  is  the  result  ?  We  are  led  im- 
mediately, inevitably,  and   logically  to 


! 


I'll 


. 


't  ^ 


\'  ■  I, 

I.,  t  ■ 


!   1 
:    ) 


II 


'^ms& 


JhiS; 


■'   <■■  ■! 


io8 

the  Baptist  position  on  the  communion 
question.  While  we  hold  that  baptism 
is  a  prerequisite  to  the  lord's  Supper, 
and  that  nothing  but  the  immersion  of 
a  believer  in  water,  in  the  name  of  the 
Trinity,  is  scriptural  baptism,  we  cannot 
occupy  any  other  ground  than  that  of  re- 
stricted communion.  Any  other  course 
would  be  a  most  dishonest  compromise 
of  principle.  Any  one  with  the  slight- 
est perception  or  reasoning  power  must 
at  once  see  this. 

Our  friends  who  object  to  our  views 
and  practice  in  this  matter  must  first 
show  us  that  one  or  the  other  of  the  two 
positions  defined  above  is  unscriptural 
and  erroneous.  They  could  hardly  ask 
us  to  stultify  our  reason,  and  be  dishon- 
est to  our  convictions  by  practising  free 
communion  while  holding  the  views 
which  we  do.  In  order  to  make  way  for 
a  change  of  practice  one  of  our  positions 
must  first  be  abandoned.  Which  shall  it 
be  ?  Shall  it  be  the  first,  viz.,  that  bap- 
tism must  precede  the  Lord's  Supper? 
That  could  hardly  be  expected  when  we 
believe  so  firmly  that  it  is  scriptural ; 


I09 


and  other  denominations  could  scarcely 
ask  this  of  us,  when  they  hold  it  just  as 
firmly  as  we  do.  Shall  it  be  the  second  ? 
But  how  can  we  do  that,  when  to  our 
minds  nothing  is  more  plainly  taught 
in  God's  book  than  that  believers  only 
are  the  proper  subjects  and  immersion 
only  the  proper  mode  of  baptism  ;  and 
when,  in  addition,  we  have  the  universal 
testimony  of  history,  and  the  admissions 
of  the  best  and  most  learned  in  all 
branches  of  Christ's  church  to  show  that 
our  understanding  of  Scripture  on  these 
points  is  correct  ?  As  well  might  we  be 
asked  to  adopt  the  consecrated  wafer,  in- 
stead of  bread  and  wine,  at  the  I^ord's 
table,  as  to  adopt  infant  sprinkling  in- 
stead of  scriptural  baptism.  It  is  plain, 
then,  that  we  cannot  be  loyal  to  God's 
word,  as  we  understand  it,  and  abandon 
either  of  the  above  mentioned  positions. 
And  while  we  hold  them,  it  is  equally 
plain  that  we  cannot  be  open-communion- 
ists.  To  do  that  we  would  have  to  tram- 
ple on  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, stifle  our  convictions  of  truth,  and 
bear  about  with  us  continually  the  con- 


s  ; 

s 


no 


in  *• 


I 

I  i 
f 


sciousness  of  being  inconsistent,  illogi- 
cal, and  dishonest.  The  only  logical  way 
for  a  Baptist  to  become  an  advocate  of  free 
communion  is  to  deny  that  the  Scrip- 
tures require  baptism  before  the  Iyord*s 
Supper.  If  he  can  firmly  believe  that, 
then  the  path  is  open.  This  is  the 
ground  taken  by  most  of  those  Baptists 
who  hold  open  communion  views.  But 
how  can  we  accept  that  doctrine  when 
the  word  teaches  us  that  the  breaking  of 
bread  was  observed  by  the  churches,  and 
that  the  churches  were  composed  of  those 
who,  having  believed  on  Jesus,  were 
baptized?  Let  it  be  shown  where  the 
Lord*s  Supper  was  observed  by  any  others 
than  companies  of  Christian  disciples; 
and  then  let  it  be  shown  where  there 
were  companies  of  Christian  disciples 
who  were  unbaptized.  Till  this  is  done 
we  must  believe  that  the  blessed  com- 
memorative ordinance  was  designed  for 
baptized  believers  in  Christ. 

Clearly,  then,  the  difference  on  this 
subject  between  Baptists  and  other  de- 
nominations is  not  in  reference  to  com- 
munion,  but  in  reference  to  baptism; 


lit 


therefore  let  us  be  charged  with  close 
baptism,  but  not  with  close  communion. 
There  is  no  controversy  between  us  and 
other  Christian  bodies  concerning  the 
necessity  of  baptism  preceding  commun- 
ion ;  that  tenet  is  common  to  all.  The 
real  point  at  issue  is  baptism,  the  sub- 
jects and  mode.  Therefore,  let  ours  be 
called  close  baptism,  or  let  others  be 
called  close  communionists,  in  common 
with  ourselves ;  either  will  be  fair,  and 
will  satisfy  us. 

The  following  extracts  will  show  that 
our  position  is  regarded  as  perfectly  log- 
ical and  consistent  by  thinking  men  of 
other  denominations. 

The  distinguished  Doctor  GrifiSn,  pres- 
ident of  Williams  College,  says :  "I 
agree  with  the  advocates  of  close  com- 
munion in  two  points :  i.  That  baptism 
is  the  initiating  ordinance  which  intro- 
duces us  into  the  visible  church ;  of 
course,  where  there  is  no  baptism  there 
are  no  visible  churches.  (2)  That  we 
ought  not  to  commune  with  those  who 
are  not  baptized,  and  of  course  are  not 
church-members,  even  if  we  regard  them 


!. '  hi 


ir"*^ 


11' 


i  t 


as  Christians.  Should  a  pious  Quaker 
so  far  depart  from  his  principles  as  to 
wish  to  commune  with  me  at  the  Lord*s 
table,  while  yet  he  refused  to  be  bap- 
tized, I  could  not  receive  him ;  because 
there  is  such  a  relationship  established 
between  the  two  ordinances  that  I  have 
no  right  to  separate  them." 

Rev.  Dr.  Hibbard,  a  very  able  writer 
among  the  Methodists  of  the  United 
States,  says :  "  The  charge  of  close  com- 
munion is  no  more  applicable  to  the 
Baptists  than  to  us,  inasmuch  as  the 
question  of  church  fellowship  with  them 
is  determined  by  as  liberal  principles  as 
it  is  with  any  other  Protestant  churches, 
so  far,  I  mean,  as  the  present  subject  is 
concerned,  i.  ^.,  it  is  determined  by  valid 
baptism." 

"  To  the  question,  whom  shall  we  ad- 
mit to  the  Lord's  table?  the  close-com- 
munion Baptist  gives  precisely  the  same 
answer  with  the  great  body  of  those  Con- 
gregationalists  and  Presbyterians  who 
are  so  prone  to  reproach  them  with  their 
close  communion." — New  York  Inde- 
pendent, 


"3 


It  is  worthy  of  remark  "that  in  one 
direction,  Pedouaptists  carry  their  prac- 
tice of  close  communion  much  farther 
than  the  Baptists  do ;  inasmuch  as  they 
exclude  from  the  Lord's  table  a  large 
class  of  their  own  members,  viz.,  bap- 
tized children,  not  allowing  them  com- 
munion, though  they  are  members.  If 
children  are  suitable  subjects  for  bap- 
tism, it  seems  most  unreasonable  to  ex- 
clude them  from  the  communion." 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  were 
admitted  to  it  when  infant  baptism  be- 
gan to  be  practised.  It  was  clearly  seen 
that  if  they  were  fit  for  one  ordinance, 
they  were  fit  for  the  other  also. 

When  it  cannot  be  denied  that  our  po- 
sition on  the  communion  question  is 
scriptural  and  logical,  then  objection  is 
made  to  us,  usually  in  one  of  the  follow- 
ing forms : 

We  are  told  that  inviting  to  the  Lord's 
Supper  none  but  those  who  have  been 
baptized,  we  make  too  much  of  baptism ; 
that  we  make  it  a  saving  ordinance.  To 
this  our  only  and  oft-repeated  reply  is: 
"  We  do  not  make  it  a  saving  ordinance, 


H 


11 


-1'  : 


114 


nor  do  we  attach  any  more  importance 
to  it  than  is  given  to  it  by  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  If  the  divine  word  makes  it 
binding  upon  every  disciple  as  his  first 
duty  after  believing  in  Christ,  then  we 
must  do  the  same.  We  dare  not  change 
the  Master*s  commands.'* 

It  is  sometimes  said  :  "  Your  refusal  to 
invite  Pedobaptists  to  commune  with  you 
implies  that  you  do  not  regard  them  as 
Christians."  Not  at  all.  We  have  no 
such  thoughts  in  reference  to  them. 
But  we  ask,  would  Pedobaptist  churches 
invite  to  their  communion  those  whom 
they  regarded  as  unbaptized,  even  though 
they  believed  them  to  be  converted  per- 
sons? 

The  objection  may  take  this  form: 
"It  is  the  Lord's  table  ;  why,  therefore, 
do  you  not  invite  all  who  profess  to  be 
the  Lrord's  people  ?  "  We  reply  that  it 
is  the  lyord's  table,  therefore  we  are  not 
at  liberty  to  invite  any  but  those  who, 
according  to  his  word,  are  qualified.  If 
it  were  our  table,  we  might  invite  whom 
we  pleased,  and  modify  the  qualifications 
as  we  saw  fit,  or  do  away  with  them  alto- 


115 

gether;  but  we  are  not  at  liberty  to 
change  the  institutions  of  our  Heavenly 
King. 

Again,  it  is  said :  "  We  hope  to  com- 
mune together  in  heaven,  why  not  then 
on  earth?"  One  can  hardly  suppose 
that  such  a  question  as  this  is  asked 
seriously ;  for  how  can  a  supposition  as 
to  what  we  may  do  in  heaven  regulate 
our  conduct  on  earth  when  we  have  the 
precept  and  example  of  Christ  and  his 
apostles  to  regulate  it  ? 

It  is  sometimes  sentimentally  said,  in 
favor  of  open  communion:  "How  ap- 
provingly the  angels  would  look  down 
on  such  scenes ! "  To  this  we  reply,  one 
word  from  the  Bible  is  worth  a  thousand 
guesses  as  to  what  the  angels  would  ap- 
prove or  disapprove.  We  suspect,  how- 
ever, that  the  angels  look  most  approv- 
ingly upon  such  as  faithfully  keep 
Christ's  ordinances  as  they  are  delivered 
to  them  in  his  holy  word,  neither  adding 
thereto  nor  taking  therefrom  anything  to 
suit  our  fancies  or  feelings. 

Surely  it  should  be  the  aim  of  all 
Christians  to  reproduce  in  this  age,  as 


I  1 


»1 


I 


i  f 


fill 


xi6 


nearly  as  possible,  primitive  Christianity, 
and  certainly  the  surest  way  to  do  this  is 
to  adhere  firmly  to  the  teachings  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles,  and  to  copy 
closely  the  New  Testament  model. 


XI 

Antiquity  of  Baptist  Principles 

If  these  principles  are  scriptural,  then 
they  are  as  old  as  Christianity.  And  it 
is  because  we  believe  them  to  be  the 
principles  committed  by  Christ  and  his 
apostles  to  the  primitive  churches  that 
we  hold  them.  But  let  us  see  what 
traces  of  them  we  can  discover  during 
the  intervening  ages. 

We  hold  that  the  true  succession  is 
succession  of  doctrines  and  principles,  of 
faith  and  works ;  that  the  genuine  repre- 
sentatives of  the  primitive  Christians, 
the  true  successors  of  the  apostles,  are 
those  who  hold  their  doctrines  and  fol- 
low   their    example,   as    they  followed 


Christ. 


The  Baptist  claim  to  continuity  from 


"7 


primitive  times  is  nothing  more  nor  less 
than  this :  That  during  all  the  interven- 
ing ages  there  have  been  persons,  at 
times  numerous  and  prominent,  at  other 
times  scattered  by  persecution  and  hid- 
den, holding  substantially  the  same  dis- 
tinctive principles  we  hold  to-day.  But 
their  history  is  to  be  "traced  by  their 
sufferings  for  the  truth,  by  the  stains  of 
their  martyrs'  blood,  by  the  light  of  their 
martyrs'  fires." 

President  Edwards,  speaking  of  the 
long,  dreary  interval  between  the  rise  of 
Antichrist  and  the  Reformation,  says: 
"  In  every  age  of  this  dark  time  there 
appeared  particular  persons  in  all  parts 
of  Christendom  who  bore  a  testimony 
against  the  corruptions  and  tyranny  of 
the  Church  of  Rome.  There  is  no  age 
of  Antichrists-even  in  the  darkest  times 
of  all — but  ecclesiastical  historians  men- 
tion a  great  many  by  name  who  pleaded 
for  the  ancient  purity  of  doctrine  and 
worship.  God  was  pleased  to  maintain 
an  uninterrupted  succession  of  witnesses 
through  the  whole  time,  in  Germany, 
France,   Britain,    and    other    countries. 


ih 


195 


ii8 


•3  l! 

■;|i 


.1 

1  i 


And  there  were  numbers  in  every  age 
who  were  persecuted  and  put  to  death  for 
this  testimony." — Works^  Vol.  I.,  p.  460. 

Those  who  during  this  long  period 
stood  out  boldly  against  the  increasing 
corruptions  of  Christianity,  the  usurped 
power  of  the  clergy,  and  the  union  of 
Church  and  State,  and  who  plead  ear- 
nestly for  liberty  of  conscience,  the  sole 
authority  of  God*s  word,  and  the  purity 
of  the  church,  were  known  by  different 
names  in  different  ages  and  countries ; 
but  their  leading  principles  were  sub- 
stantially the  same.  In  the  earlier  ages 
there  were  the  Novatians,  Donatists, 
Paulicians,  and  others,  and  in  later  times 
the  Waldenses,  Albigenses,  or  Vaudois. 

It  is  not  pretended  that  all  these  were 
Baptists  in  all  respects,  and  we  by  no 
means  endorse  all  the  sentiments  held  by 
these  different  bodies.  It  is  only  claimed 
that  the  distinguishing  principles  of  the 
Baptists  have  had  advocates  in  every  age, 
and  that  too  among  those  who  are  uni- 
versally regarded  as  the  preservers  of 
primitive  Christianity  during  the  dark 
ages. 


119 


In  the  third  century  were  the  Nova- 
tians.  It  was  in  Rome  that  their  prin- 
ciples began  to  be  declared.  The  lead- 
ing principle  which  distinguished  them, 
and  for  which  they  earnestly  contended, 
was  the  purity  of  the  church.  In  fact,  it 
was  on  account  of  their  adherence  to  this 
principle  that  their  dissent  and  separate 
organization  took  place.  The  dominant 
church  had  become  very  lax  in  disci- 
pline, and  looked  leniently  upon  gross 
offenses  in  its  members.  The  Novatians 
maintained  that  the  church  should  be 
holy.  They  were  called  Cathari^  or 
Puritans ;  and  they  rebaptized  those  who 
came  over  to  them  from  the  Catholics. — 
See  Mosheintf  Cent,  IIL^  Part  II.,  Chap. 
V. 

In  the  fourth  century  the  Donatists  se- 
ceded from  the  rapidly  degenerating 
church.  It  was  in  Northern  Africa  that 
this  took  place.  Concerning  their  prin- 
ciples, D.  C.  Eddy,  d.  d.,  says:  "A 
French  historian  (Crispin)  gives  the  creed 
of  the  Donatists  when  he  charges  them 
with  holding  the  following  things: 
*  First,  for  purity  of  church-members,  by 


I20 


asserting  that  none  ought  to  be  admitted 
into  the  church  but  such  as  are  visibly 
true  believers  and  real  saints  ;  secondly, 
for  purity  of  church  discipline ;  thirdly, 
for  the  independence  of  each  church ; 
and  iourthly,  they  baptized  again  those 
whose  first  baptism  they  had  reason  to 
doubt*  " — Roger  Williams  and  the  Bap- 
tists^  p.  56. 

T.  G.  Jones,  D.  d.,  makes  the  fol- 
lowing quotations:  "Twisck,  *Chron.,' 
Book  VI.,  p.  201,  says :  *  The  followers  of 
Donatus  were  all  one  with  the  Anabap- 
tists, denying  baptism  to  children,  ad- 
mitting believers  only  thereto  who  de- 
sired the  same,  and  maintaining  that  none 
ought  to  be  forced  to  any  belief.*  D*An- 
vers,  in  his  *  Treatise  on  Baptism,*  says : 
*  Austin*s  third  and  fourth  books  against 
the  Donatists  demonstrate  that  they  de- 
nied infant  baptism.  And  therefore  Osi- 
ander,  in  his  "Epit.  Cent.  XVI,**  p.  175, 
saith  that  bur  modern  Anabaptists  were 
the  same  with  the  Donatists  of  old.*  ** — 
The  Baptists^  p.  70. 

Rev.  Thomas  Long,  prebendary  of  Ex- 
eter, published  a  "  History  of  the  Donat- 


121 


"\ 


ists,"  in  1677,  in  which  he  says  (page 
103),  that  "  they  did  not  only  rebaptize 
the  adults  that  came  over  to  them,  but 
refused  to  baptize  children,  contrary  to 
the  practice  of  the  church,  as  appears  by 
several  discourses  of  St.  Augustine." 

According  to  Doctor  Eddy :  "  Neander 
asserts  that  with  the  Donatists  is  to  be 
found  the  true  historical  origin  of  the 
Waldenses." 

In  the  seventh  century  and  onward  for 
several  hundred  years  the  most  prominent 
witnesses  for  the  truth  and  opposers  of 
the  widespread  corruption  and  ritualism 
of  the  dominant  church,  were  the  Pauli- 
cians.  Armenia  was  the  principal  scene 
of  their  earnest  protests  and  terrible  per- 
secutions. They  became  exceedingly 
numerous,  as  may  be  judged  from  the 
statement  of  Mosheim,  that,  under  the 
Empress  Theodora,  between  a.  d.  841 
and  855,  about  one  hundred  thousand  of 
them  were  put  to  death.  We  are  en- 
tirely dependent  on  the  writings  of  their 
bitter  enemies  for  a  knowledge  of  their 
doctrines,  so  that  they  are  probably 
much  misrepresented.     This  we  learn, 


W  il 


-■',      ''^ 


122 


•  --'■ 


howeveTj  that  they  protested  earnestly 
against  the  many  errors,  both  in  doc- 
trine and  practice,  which  had  grown  up 
in  the  Catholic  Church,  and  condemned 
the  multiplied  forms  and  ceremonies,  the 
ritualism  of  that  age,  such  as  the  wor- 
ship of  the  Virgin  Mary  and  the  saints, 
the  adoration  of  the  cross  and  of  images, 
etc.  They  advocated  great  simplicity  of 
worship.  Their  opposition  to  the  super- 
stitious and  idolatrous  worship  which 
then  prevailed  doubtless  led  some  of 
them  to  an  extreme  position  on  the  op- 
posite side,  and  disposed  them  to  do 
away  with  external  forms.  Mosheim 
says :  "  They  rejected  baptism  as  a  rite  of 
no  use  as  regards  salvation,  and  espe- 
cially the  baptism  of  infants." — Cent  XL^ 
Part  II.,  Chap.  V.  Large  numbers  of 
them  afterward  removed  to  the  provinces 
of  Bulgaria  and  Thrace,  whence  they 
spread  into  Italy,  so  that  in  the  early 
part  of  the  eleventh  century  they  were 
very  numerous  in  Lombardy  and  Insu- 
bria,  and  especially  in  Milan.  In  Italy 
they  were  called  Paterini  and  Catkart, 
They  afterward   appeared    in    different 


123 


countries  of  Europe.  In  Fiance  they 
were  known  as  Albigenses  and  Bont 
Homines  (good  men). 

It  seems  evident  that  all  these  differ- 
ent bodies  of  dissenters,  who  during  the 
course  of  many  centuries  in  different 
parts  of  the  world,  and  in  the  face  of  the 
fiercest  persecutions  maintained  their 
advocacy  of  primitive  Christianity,  were 
substantially  one  and  the  same  people. 
Holding  a  common  faith,  the  various 
branches  readily  merged  into  one  an- 
other, so  that  the  different  names  used 
by  historians  are  not  generally  the  names 
of  distinct  sects,  but  different  appella- 
tions given  in  different  ages  and  coun- 
tries to  people  holding  substantially  the 
same  principles. 

We  now  come  to  the  Waldenses,  who 
as  a  continuation  or  blending  of  the 
above-mentioned  bodies,  occupied  a  very 
prominent  position  from  the  eleventh 
century  onward  for  many  ages,  as  the 
principal  advocates  of  "the  faith  once 
delivered  to  the  saints,"  and  tl  t  firm 
protesters  against  the  apostasy  and  cor- 
ruptions of  the  Romish  Church. 


nr  ■'** 


'    ) 


124 

Their  principal  dwelling-places  were 
in  the  secluded  valleys  of  the  Cottian 
Alps,  in  Piedmont  on  the  Italian  side, 
and  the  Province  of  Dauphin^  on  the 
French  side.  These,  I  say,  were  their 
principal  retreats;  but  there  were  Wal- 
denses,  Albigenses,  or  Vaudois,  living  in 
many  parts  of  Europe. 

President  Edwards,  speaking  of  their 
Alpine  retreat,  says:  "It  is  supposed 
they  first  betook  themselves  to  this  des- 
ert, secret  place  among  the  mountains,  to 
hide  themselves  from  the  severity  of  the 
heathen  persecutors  which  were  before 
Constantine  the  Great.  And  there  their 
posterity  continued  from  age  to  age  after- 
ward. And  being,  as  it  were,  by  natural 
walls,  as  well  as  by  God's  grace,  sepa- 
rated from  the  rest  of  the  world,  never 
partook  of  the  overflowing  corruption." 
— IVorks,  Vol.  I.,  Ifts^,  of  Redemp,^  p. 
460. 

But  what  were  the  religious  principles 
of  the  Waldenses?  It  is  quite  a  com- 
mon thing  for  different  bodies  of  Chris- 
tians at  the  present  day  to  claim  direct 
relationship  to  these  ancient  witnesses 


!i '  f 


"5 


for  the  truth.  And  no  wonder  there  is  a 
desire  to  trace  such  a  connection,  for 
they  were  the  faithful  and  heroic  pre- 
servers of  gospel  truth  and  simplicity 
through  those  long  dark  ages  when  the 
dominant  church  had  gone  so  far  astray. 

It  is  true  that  since  the  Reformation 
the  modern  Waldenses  have  yielded  some 
points  in  their  ancient  faith,  and  have 
generally  become  Pedobaptists ;  but  it  is 
concerning  the  ancient  Waldenses  that 
our  present  inquiry  is  made — those  who 
were  God's  faithful  witnesses  during  the 
Middle  Ages. 

In  seeking  to  ascertain  their  principles 
it  is  important  to  know  what  was  be- 
lieved and  preached  by  the  eminent  men 
who  in  different  places  were  identified 
with  them.  Peter  de  Bruys  was  one  of 
the  most  illustrious  of  the  leaders.  After 
twenty  years  of  most  successful  labor  in 
the  south  of  France  in  winning  souls  to 
Christ  and  turning  multitudes  from  the 
corrupted  Christianity  of  those  days,  he 
was  burnt  at  the  stake,  A.  d.  1134  ^^ 
1 1 30.  One  of  his  principles  is  thus 
given    by    Mosheim  :     "  That    persons 


ii  'I 


4'' 


126 


I) 

V'i  i 


ought  not  to  be  baptized  until  they  come 
to  the  use  of  reason." — Cent.  XI Ly  Part 
II.,  Chap.  V.  Neander  says  "that  he 
was  an  opponent  of  infant  baptism,  since 
he  regarded  personal  faith  as  a  necessary 
condition  for  true  baptism,  and  denied 
the  benefit  in  the  case  of  another's  faith." 
— History  Christian  Religion  and  Churchy 
Vol.  IV.,  p.  595. 

He  was  followed  by  Henry  of  Lau- 
sanne, who  preached  the  gospel  boldly, 
and  with  great  results.  The  truth  as 
proclaimed  by  him  was  accepted  by  mul- 
titudes. He  was  at  last  apprehended 
and  committed  to  prison  in  A.  D.  1148, 
where  he  soon  after  died.  Neander  says 
that  "  he  attacked  various  customs  which 
could  not  be  directly  proved  from  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  as  corruptions  of  primi- 
tive Christianity ,  such,  for  example,  as 
the  worship  of  saints  and  infant  bap- 
tism."— History  Christian  Religion  and 
Churchy  Vol.  IV.,  p.  601.  Mosheim  says : 
"  An  accurate  account  of  the  doctrines  of 
this  man  also  has  not  come  down  to  us. 
We  only  know  that  he  too  disapproved 
of    infant   baptism,   inveighed   severely 


127 

against  the  corrupt  morals  of  the  clergy, 
despised  the  festal  days  and  the  religious 
ceremonies,  and  held  clandestine  assem- 
blies."—CV«/.  A7/.,  Part  II.,  Chap.  V. 

In  a  Waldensian  Treatise  on  Anti-. 
Christ,  Purgatory,  Invocation  of  Saints, 
and  the  Sacraments,  supposed  to  have 
been  written  about  the  year  1120,  it  is 
said  of  Antichrist  that  *'He  ':eaches  to 
baptize  children  into  the  faith,  and  at- 
tributes to  this  the  work  of  regeneration, 
thus  confounding  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  regeneration  with  the  external 
rite  of  baptism,  and  on  this  foundation 
bestows  orders,  and  indeed  grounds  all  his 
Christianity.'*  M.  de  Potter,  in  his  act 
count  of  the  Waldenses,  says:  "They 
had  a  care  that  it  (baptism)  should  nevei 
be  conferred  on  children  of  a  tendei 
age " ;  and  again,  "  laying  stress  on  the 
truth  that  in  infancy  there  can  be  no 
actual  conversion  to  the  Christian  faith, 
they  therefore  baptized  anew  all  those 
who  left  the  Romish  Church,  wishing  to 
embrace  their  doctrine."  In  the  public 
declaration  of  their  faith  to  the  French 
king,  A.  D.  152 1,  according  to  Montanus, 


'I 


I**         W   J^ 


128 


they  **  assert  in  the  strongest  terms  the 
baptizing  of  believers,  and  deny  that  of 
infants."  One  of  their  ancient  Confes- 
sions of  Faith  declares :  *'  We  consider 
the  sacraments  as  signs  of  holy  things, 
or  as  the  visible  emblems  of  invisible 
blessings.  We  regard  it  as  proper  and 
even  necessary  that  believers  use  these 
symbols,  or  visible  forms,  when  it  can  be 
done.  Notwithstanding,  we  maintain 
that  believers  may  be  saved  without 
these  signs  when  they  have  neither  place 
nor  opportunity  of  observing  them.'* 
Starck,  Court  Preacher  of  Darmstadt,  in 
his  "  History  of  Baptism,"  says  of  the 
Waldenses,  "they  not  only  rejected  in- 
fant baptism,  but  rebaptized  those  who 
passed  from  the  Catholic  Church  to 
them."  Drs.  Ypeij  and  Dermont,  in 
their  "  History  of  the  Reformed  Church 
of  the  Netherlands,"  say  :  "It  is  certain 
that  the  Netherlands  Waldenses  always 
rejected  infart  baptism,  and  administered 
the  ordinances  only  to  adults.  We  may 
find  this  positively  asserted  by  Hierony- 
mus  Verdussen,  by  the  abbot  of  Clugny, 
and   other   Romish   writers."     The  ex- 


iffl  III 


Ifli 


129 


tracts  in  the  foregoing  paragraph  I  have 
taken  from  "Roger  Williams  and  the 
Baptists,"  by  D.  C.  Eddy,  a  d.,  and  "The 
Baptists,"  by  T.  G.  Jones,  d.  d.  They 
are  contained  also  in  many  other  works. 

The  third  canon  of  the  Council  of 
Toulouse,  held  A.  d.  1119,  bears  wit- 
ness to  the  existence  and  activity  of 
Christians  in  the  province  of  Dauphin^, 
who  were  then  "busily  agitating  the 
questions  of  the  real  presence,  infant 
baptism,  and  validity  of  sacerdotal  or- 
ders." It  was  the  descendants  of  these 
sturdy  maintainers  of  truth,  whom  that 
apostolic  man  Felix  Neff  found  in  the 
High  Alps  ages  afterward,  and  among 
whom  he  spent  his  useful  life. — Life  of 
Felix  Neff, 

Mosheim says :  "I  believe  the  Mennon- 
ites  (Dutch  Baptists)  are  not  altogether 
in  the  wrong,  when  they  boast  of  a  de- 
scent from  those  Waldensians,  Petrobru- 
sians,  and  others,  who  are  usually  styled 
the  witnesses  for  the  truth,  before  Luther. 
Prior  to  the  age  of  Luther  there  lay  con- 
cealed, in  almost  every  country  of  Europe, 
but    especially   in    Bohemia,    Moravia, 


i 


tf^m 


130 


_ 

!  r 


II 


Switzerland,  and  Germany,  very  nrany 
persons,  in  whose  minds  was  deeply 
rooted  that  principle  which  the  Walden- 
sians,  the  Wickliffites,  and  the  Hussites 
maintained,  some  more  covertly,  and 
others  more  openly,  namely,  that  the 
kingdom  which  Christ  set  up  on  the 
earth,  or  the  visible  church,  is  an  assem- 
bly of  holy  persons,  and  ought  therefore 
to  be  entirely  free,  not  only  from  ungodly 
persons  and  sinners,  but  from  all  institu- 
tions of  human  device  against  ungodli- 
ness. This  principle  lay  at  the  founda- 
tion, and  was  the  source  of  all  that  was 
new  and  singular  in  the  religion  of  the 
Mennonites;  and  the  greatest  part  of 
their  singular  opinions,  as  is  well  at- 
tested, were  approved  some  centuries  be- 
fore IyUther*s  time,  by  those  who  had 
such  views  of  the  nature  of  the  church 
of  Christ."— (T^w/.  XVL,  Sec.  III.,  Part 
II.,  Chap.  VI. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  present  cen- 
tury, the  king  of  the  Netherlands  ap- 
pointed his  chaplain.  Rev.  J.  J.  Dermont, 
and  Dr.  Ypeij,  professor  of  theology  in 
the  University  of  Groningen,  to  prepare 


I3X 

a  history  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  the 
Netherlands.  The  result  of  their  inves- 
tigations was  given  to  the  world  in  their 
work  published  at  Breda  in  1819.  They 
were  Pedobaptists,  and  of  course  had  no 
inclination  to  favor  the  Baptists  any  fur- 
ther than  truth  required.  They  say: 
"  We  have  now  seen  that  the  Baptists, 
who  were  formerly  called  Anabaptists, 
and  in  later  times  Mennonites,  were  the 
original  Waldenses,  and  who,  long  in  the 
history  of  the  church,  received  the  honor 
of  that  origin.  On  this  account  the 
Baptists  may  be  considered  as  the  only 
Christian  community  which  has  stood 
since  the  days  of  the  apostles,  and  as  a 
Christian  Society  which  has  preserved 
pure  the  docrines  of  the  gospel  through 
all  ages." 

In  exact  agreement  with  this  is  the 
statement  of  that  illustrious  Christian 
philosopher.  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  whose  ec- 
clesiastical investigations  were  only  less 
extensive  and  profound  than  his  philo- 
sophical. He  is  said  to  have  frequently 
expressed  the  opinion  that  "  the  Baptists 
were  the  only  Christians  who  had  never 


^iii 


132 


symbolized  with  the  Church  of  Rome." 
— AppletofCs  American  Cyclopedia, 


iiii 


'■  I 


XII 

Baptist  Martyrology 

The  martyrology  of  the  Baptists  would 
form  an  almost  endless  record  of  perse- 
cution and  suffering.  Age  after  age  they 
were  oppressed  in  the  most  relentless 
manner.  Of  them  it  might  truly  be  said  : 
"  They  had  trial  of  cruel  mockings  and 
scourgings ;  yea,  moreover,  of  bonds  and 
imprisonment;  they  were  stoned,  they 
were  sawn  asunder,  were  tempted,  were 
slain  with  the  sword ;  they  wandered 
about  in  sheepskins  and  goatskins,  being 
destitute,  afflicted,  tormented  (of  whom 
the  world  was  not  worthy);  they  wan- 
dered in  deserts,  and  in  m.ountains,  and 
in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth "  (Heb. 
11:36-38). 

According  to  Mosheim:  "Vast  num- 
bers of  these  people  (Baptists)  in  nearly 
all  the  countries  of  Europe  would  rather 
perish  miserably  by  drowning,  hanging. 


133 

burning,  or  decapitation,  than  renounce 
the  opinions  they  had  embraced." — Cent, 
XVI.,  Sect.  III.,  Part  II.,  Chap.  V.  Car- 
dinal Hosius,  who  presided  at  the  Council 
of  Trent,  says  of  the  Baptists:  "There 
have  been  none  for  these  twelve  hundred 
years  past,  that  have  been  more  griev- 
ously punished." 

Time  would  fail  to  enumerate  even  a 
small  proportion  of  those  who  have  suf- 
fered for  the  principles  which  we  hold 
dear.  Such  cases  crowd  the  pages  of 
history  for  many  centuries.  In  Italy, 
Germany,  Switzerland,  France,  England, 
— in  almost  every  country  of  Europe, — 
Baptists  have  been  tortured  and  slain  in 
vast  numbers  for  these  very  principles. 
They  could  not  yield  what  they  believed 
to  be  the  truth  of  God;  life  could  be 
given  up,  but  not  truth. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  tell  how  ter- 
rible were  the  storms  of  persecution 
which  fell  upon  the  unoffending  Wal- 
denses  and  Albigenses ;  how  fierce  and 
fiendish  the  rage  of  their  destroyers ;  how 
many  thousands  of  them  suffered  atroci- 
ties similar  to  those  which  were  perpetra- 


M 


134 


ted  a  few  years  ago  in  Bulgaria  and  other 
provinces  of  Turkey.  The  history  of 
their  persecutions  is  one  continuous  rec- 
ord of  fire  and  sword,  the  rack  and  the 
gibbet,  the  most  inhuman  tortures  and 
heart-rending  scenes.  Tens  of  thousands 
were  tortured  and  slain  simply  for  their 
opinions.  Their  persecutors  acknowl- 
edged that  they  were  persons  of  blame- 
less life,  and  loyal  subjects ;  but  they  held 
certain  religious  principles  which  have 
always  been  hated  by  ungodly  men  and 
worldly  Christians. 

The  names  of  very  many  might  be 
given  who  suffered  martyrdom  in  Eng- 
land, alike  under  Bloody  Mary  and  Pro- 
testant Elizabeth,  solely  for  holding 
these  views  ;  but  the  details  of  their  tor- 
tures and  death  are  dreadful.  In  the 
sixteenth  century  immense  numbers  of 
Baptists  suffered  by  fine,  imprisonment, 
banishment,  or  burning.  For  details, 
see  "  Cramp's  Baptist  History,"  Chap.  V. 
and  VI. 

One  case  may  be  given  to  illustrate 
the  kind  of  persecution  Baptists  had  to 
suffer  in  England  as  late  as  the  latter 


^ 


135 

part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Rev. 
Benjamin  Keach  was  a  Baptist  minister 
at  Winslow,  in  Buckinghamshire.  He 
afterward  became  pastor  of  the  church 
to  which  Rev.  C.  H.  Spurgeon  ministered, 
the  Metropolitan  Tabernacle,  I^ondon. 

"  In  1664  Mr.  Keach  published  a  little 
book  for  the  use  of  children,  entitled, 
*  The  Child's  Instructor ;  or,  a  New  and 
Easy  Primmer.*  For  this  he  was  sum- 
moned to  appear  at  the  assizes  at  Ayles- 
bury, October  8, 1664.  Being  brought  to 
the  bar,  the  clerk  said,  *  Benjamin  Keach, 
hear  your  charge :  Thou  art  here  indicted, 
by  the  name  of  Benjamin  Keach,  of 
Winslow,  in  the  county  of  Bucks,  for 
that  thou  being  a  seditious,  schismatic 
person,  evilly  and  maliciously  disposed, 
and  disaffected  to  His  Majesty's  govern- 
ment, and  the  government  of  the  Church 
of  England,  didst  maliciously  and  wick- 
edly, on  the  5th  of  May,  in  the  sixteenth 
year  of  the  reign  of  our  sovereign  lord 
the  ^ing,  write,  print,  and  publish,  or 
cause  to  be  written,  printed,  and  pub- 
lished, one  seditious  and  venomous  book, 
entitled,  "  The  Child's  Instructor ;  or,  a 


m 


136 


i 


i  ! 


i^ 


f     : 

i 


!    ', 


New  and  Easy  Primmer  " ;  wherein  are 
contained,  by  way  of  question  and  an- 
swer, these  damnable  positions,  contrary 
to  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  the 
liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England ;  that 
is  to  say,  in  one  place  you  have  thus 
written :  Q,  Who  are  the  right  subjects 
for  baptism?  A,  Believers,  or  godly  men 
and  women,  who  make  profession  of  their 
faith  and  repentance. 

"  *  In  another  place  you  have  mali- 
ciously and  wickedly  written  these 
words:  Q,  How  shall  it  go  with  the 
saints  when  Christ  cometh?  A»  Very 
well ;  it  is  the  day  they  have  longed  for. 
Then  shall  they  hear  the  sentence, 
"Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  in- 
herit the  kingdom  prepared  for  you;" 
and  so  shall  they  reign  with  Christ  on 
the  earth  a  thousand  years,  even  on 
mount  Sion,  in  the  New  Jerusalem. 

"  *  In  another  place  you  have  wicked- 
ly and  maliciously  written  these  plain 
English  words :  Q.  Why  may  not  in- 
fants be  received  into  the  church  now, 
as  they  were  under  the  law?  A,  Be- 
cause the  fleshly  seed  is  cast  out.    Though 


137 

God  under  that  dispensation  did  receive 
infants  in  a  lineal  way  by  generation ; 
yet  he  that  hath  the  key  of  David,  that 
openeth  and  no  man  shutteth,  and  shut- 
teth  and  no  man  openeth,  hath  shut  up 
this  way  into  the  church,  and  opened  the 
door  of  regeneration,  receiving  in  none 
now  but  true  believers.  Q,  What  is  the 
case  of  infants  ?  A.  Infants  that  die  are 
members  of  the  kingdom  of  glory,  though 
they  be  not  members  of  the  visible 
church.  0.  Do  they,  then,  that  bring  in 
infants  in  a  lineal  way  by  generation,  err 
from  the  way  of  truth  ?  A,  Yea,  they 
do ;  for  they  make  not  God*s  holy  word 
their  rule,  but  do  presume  to  open  a  door 
that  Christ  hath  shut,  and  none  ought  to 
open.* 

"  The  judge  bade  the  jury  bring  him 
in  guilty,  and  then  pronounced  the  fol- 
lowing sentence :  *  Benjamin  Keach,  you 
are  here  convicted  for  writing,  printing, 
and  publishing  a  seditious  and  schis- 
matical  book,  for  which  the  court's  judg- 
ment is  this,  and  the  court  doth  award 
that  you  shall  go  to  gaol  for  a  fortnight 
without  bail  or  mainprize ;  and  the  next 


I 


138 

Saturday  to  stand  upon  the  pillory  at 
Aylesbury,  in  the  open  market,  from 
eleven  o'clock  till  one,  with  a  paper 
upon  your  head  with  this  inscription : 
For  writings  printings  and  publishing  a 
schismatical  book^  entitled,  "  The  Child'' s 
Instructor ;  or^  a  New  and  Easy  Prim- 
mer,''^ And  the  next  Thursday  to  stand, 
in  the  same  manner  and  for  the  same 
time,  in  the  mrrket  at  Winslow ;  and 
then  your  book  shall  be  openly  burnt 
before  your  face  by  the  common  hang- 
man, in  disgrace  of  you  and  your  doc- 
trine. And  you  shall  forfeit  to  the 
King's  Majesty  the  sum  of  twenty 
pounds,  shall  remain  in  gaol  until  you 
find  sureties  for  your  good  behaviour, 
and  for  your  appearance  at  the  next  as- 
sizes; then  to  renounce  your  doctrines, 
and  make  such  public  submission  as 
shall  be  enjoined  by  you."  ^ 

This  inhuman  sentence  was  rigorously 
carried  out.  "  His  head  and  hands  were 
no  sooner  placed  in  the  pillory  than  he 
began  to  address  himself  to  the  spectators 
to  this  effect:  *Good  people,  I  am  not 
ashamed  to  stand  here  this  day,  with  this 


m 


139 

paper  on  my  head ;  my  L,ord  Jesus  was 
not  ashamed  to  suffer  on  the  cross  for 
me;  and  it  is  for  his  cause  that  I  am 
made  a  gazing  stock.  Take  notice,  it  is 
not  for  any  wickedness  that  I  stand  here, 
but  for  writing  and  publishing  those 
truths  which  the  Spirit  of  the  I^ord  hath 
revealed  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.'  " — Tke 
Metropolitan  Tabernacle^  its  History  and 
Work^  by  C  H,  Spurgeon, 


i, '« 


Let  us  now  take  a  glance  at  America 
two  hundred  years  ago,  and  see  how 
Baptists  were  treated  therein.  We  might 
reasonabxy  suppose  that  those  who  had 
fled  from  tyranny  in  the  old  world,  in 
order  that  they  might  find  beyond  the 
Atlantic  "freedom  to  worship  God," 
would  appreciate  and  practise  toleration 
in  their  new  home.  But  what  are  the 
facts  ?  The  Puritans  bitterly  persecuted 
those  whose  religious  views  differed  from 
theirs,  and  the  Baptists  especially  felt  the 
force  of  their  intolerance.  By  statute  law 
it  was  ordered,  in  1636,  in  the  colony  of 
Massachusetts,  that  "  no  person  being  a 
member  of  any  church,  which  shall  here- 


&i 


•;  • 


f 

ili 


I40 


! 


after  be  gathered  without  the  approba- 
tion of  the  magistrates,  and  the  greater 
part  of  said  churches,  shall  be  admitted 
to  the  freedom  of  this  commonwealth," 
thus  disfranchising  all  who  were  not  of 
the  standing  order.  In  the  same  year  it 
was  enacted  that  "  if  any  Christian  shall 
openly  condemn  the  baptizing  of  infants, 
or  shall  piirposely  depart  the  congrega- 
tion at  the  administration  of  that  ordi- 
nance, and  continuing  obstinate  therein, 
he  shall  be  sentenced  to  be  banished." 

In  1 65 1,  Obadiah  Holmes  and  John 
Clark,  two  Baptist  ministers,  came  from 
Newport  to  Lynn,  Mass.,  and  attempted 
to  hold  a  religious  service  at  the  house 
of  William  Witter,  a  Baptist.  While 
Mr.  Clark  was  preaching  they  were  ar- 
rested by  order  of  the  magistrates.  At 
the  trial  they  were  charged  chiefly  with 
baptizing,  and  denying  the  validity  of 
infant  baptism,  and  Mr.  Clark  was  fined 
twenty  pounds,  and  Mr.  Holmes  thirty 
pounds,  and  in  default  of  payment  they 
were  both  to  be  severely  whipped.  The 
latter  would  not,  or  could  not,  pay  the 
fine,  and 


141 

Without  mercy  his  back  was  laid  bare,  and  the 
lash  laid  on  for  conscience'  sake.  The  flesh  hung 
in  gory  welts,  and  yet  the  blows  fell ;  the  blood 
ran  down  his  legs  and  made  puddles  on  the 
ground,  and  yet  the  blows  fell,  until  intolerance 
was  satisfied.  "As  the  strokes  fell  upon  me,"  he 
says,  "  I  had  such  a  spiritual  manifestation  of 
God' s  presence  as  I  never  had  before,  and  the  out- 
ward pain  was  so  removed  from  me  that  I  well 
could  bear  it ;  yea,  I  felt  it  not,  although  it  was 
grievous,  as  the  spectators  said,  the  man  striking 
with  all  his  strength  (yea,  spitting  in  his  hands 
three  times,  as  many  affirmed),  with  a  three-corded 
whip,  giving  me  therewith  thirty  strokes." 

This  was  not  in  Madrid  or  Rome,  but 
in  New  England — the  land  of  the  free. 
It  was  not  done  by  the  Inquisitors  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  but  by  the  poor,  meek,  per- 
secuted Puritans,  who,  a  few  years  before, 
longed  so  earnestly  for  religious  liberty. 

As  we  look  back  over  the  noble  army 
of  Baptist  martyrs  all  along  the  centu- 
ries, suffering  for  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,  and  sealing  their  testimony  with 
their  blood,  we  feel  that  here  is  a  succes- 
sion worth  talking  about  and  worth  de- 
fending; a  succession  of  apostolic  prin- 
ciples and  apostoJic  men.  We  are  thank- 
ful for  such  a  spiritual  pedigree. 


'I 
Si--    ' 


^      ii 


1 


iHM 


142 


Had  not  these  principles  been  immortal 
as  the  word  of  God,  they  would  have 
faded  forever  from  the  earth,  when  all 
the  world  waged  war  against  them. 
Well  may  we  with  wonder  ask  why 
such  principles  have  always  been  spoken 
against  and  their  advocates  persecuted. 
There  is  nothing  in  these  doctrines  that 
is  injurious  to  men  morally  or  spirit- 
ually; nothing  that  is  hostile  to  the 
welfare  of  society ;  nothing  that  is  sub- 
versive  of  law  and  good  government. 
And  yet  they  have,  from  the  beginning, 
been  fiercely  opposed,  and  their  adherents 
have  been  the  objects  of  tyranny.  Per, 
haps  we  may  find  the  explanation  in  the 
fact  that  the  truth,  even  when  uttered  by 
the  Son  of  God,  was  hated  and  resisted, 
and  that  he — the  very  truth  itself — was 
crowned  with  thorns  and  crucified. 


XIII 

Our  Position 

Wisdom  says,  "  Let  another  man  praise 
thee  and  not  thine  own  mouth."  Let  us 
hear  then  what  others  have  said. 


i^H 


143 


The  late  Dr.  Wood,  of  Andover,  Mass., 
in  1854  thus  expressed  himself:  "I  en- 
tertain the  most  cordial  esteem,  love,  and 
confidence  toward  the  Baptists,  as  a  de- 
nomination. I  have  had  the  freest  inter- 
course and  the  sincerest  friendship  with 
Baptist  ministers,  theological  students, 
and  private  Christians.  And  I  have 
wished  that  our  denomination — the  Con- 
gregational— was  as  free  from  erratic 
speculations,  and  as  well  grounded  in 
the  doctrines  and  experimental  principles 
of  the  Puritans  as  the  Baptists.  It 
seems  to  me  that  they  are  the  Christians 
who  are  likely  to  maintain  pure  Christi- 
anity and  hold  fast  the  form  of  sound 
words." 

The  great  Scotch  Presbyterian,  Dr. 
Chalmers,  pays  the  following  tribute  to 
the  English  Baptists :  "  Let  it  never  be 
forgotten  of  the  Particular  Baptists  of 
England  that  they  form  the  denomina- 
tion of  Fuller  and  Carey  and  Ryland  and 
Hall  and  Foster;  that  they  have  origi- 
nated among  the  greatest  of  all  mission- 
ary enterprises ;  that  they  have  enriched 
the  Christian  literature  of  our  country 


1 


li'i 


Hi 


T 


I 


144 

with  authorship  of  the  most  exalted  piety, 
as  well  as  of  the  first  talent,  and  the  first 
eloquence  ;  that  they  have  waged  a  very 
noble  and  successful  war  with  the  hydra 
of  Antinomianism ;  that  perhaps  there  is 
not  a  more  intellectual  community  of 
ministers  in  our  islands,  or  who  have  put 
forth,  to  their  number,  a  greater  amount 
of  mental  power  and  mental  activity  in 
the  defense  and  illustration  of  our  com- 
mon faith ;  and  what  is  better  than  all 
the  triumphs  of  genius  or  understanding, 
who  by  their  zeal  and  fidelity  and  pas- 
toral labor  among  congregations  which 
they  have  reared,  have  done  more  to 
swell  the  list  of  genuine  discipleship  in 
the  walks  of  private  society,  and  thus 
both  to  uphold  and  extend  the  living 
Christianity  of  our  nation." 

Baptists  have  no  cause  to  be  ashamed 
of  the  roll  call  of  their  illustrious  men. 
Passing  by  the  notable  names  of  the 
early  and  middle  ages,  and  coming  down 
to  modern  times,  we  might  point  to 
John  Bunyan,  "  the  immortal  dreamer," 
whose  great  allegory  has  been  translated 
into  more  languages  of  the  world  than 


i   i 


;|Ni 


T 


145 

any  other  book  except  the  Bible;  to 
John  Milton,  whose  colossal  genius  pro- 
duced "  Paradise  Lost "  ;  to  Robert  Hall, 
that  most  finished  pulpit  orator,  the 
Chrysostom  of  modern  times ;  to  John 
Foster,  whom  Sir  James  Mackintosh  pro- 
nounced "  one  of  the  most  profound  and 
eloquent  writers  that  England  has  pro- 
duced " ;  to  Andrew  Fuller,  the  eminent 
theologian,  who  "traverses  with  giant 
steps  the  whole  empire  of  revelation  and 
of  reason,  as  its  handmaid";  to  John 
Howard,  the  devoted  philanthropist  and 
unselfish  reformer  ;  to  William  Carey, 
one  of  the  most  prominent  leaders  of  the 
modern  missionary  enterprise,  who  dur- 
ing the  forty  years  of  his  labors  in  India 
in  connection  with  his  associates,  pub- 
lished over  two  hundred  and  twelve 
thousand  volumes  of  the  Bible,  in  forty 
different  languages;  to  Adoniram  Jud- 
son,  the  heroic  apostle  of  Burma,  one  of 
the  first  missionaries  that  ever  left  the 
shores  of  America  for  a  heathen  land ; 
to  Sir  Henry  Havelockj  the  valiant 
Christian  warrior,  whose  name  and  fame 
can  never  be  forgotten  while  the  dread- 

K 


f 


^"sm 


mism 


146 


V 


■  i 


m 


ful  memories  of  Lucknow  remain ;  to 
C.  H.  Spurgeon,  confesseclly  the  most 
eminent  of  preachers,  who  from  his 
pulpit  addressed  the  largest  assembly 
that  in  his  day  convened  for  religious 
purposes. 

One  of  the  first  of  those  missionary 
organizations,  established  at  the  close  of 
the  last  century  and  the  beginning  of  the 
present,  which  had  for  their  prime  object 
the  evangelization  of  the  heathen  world, 
was  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  es- 
tablished in  1792.  Of  the  efforts  of  this 
Society  "Chambers'  Cyclopedia"  thus 
speaks :  "  No  mission  band  has  arisen  in 
any  denomination  within  the  century 
who  have  surpassed  the  agents  of  the 
Baptist  Missionary  Society  in  ardent 
zeal,  patient  perseverance,  and  invincible 
fortitude,  in  carrying  out  their  lord's 
Commission  to  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature.  The  names  of  Carey, 
Marshm?n,  Ward,  and  Knibb  will  be 
had  in  grateful  remembrance  by  all  suc- 
ceeding generations,  and  their  footsteps 
are  now  being  trod  by  9  long  list  of 
Christian  missionaries  of  all  evangelical 


!■'■!• 


m. 


^■^1 


« 


147 

persuasions,  who  are  *  the  messengers  of 
the  churches,  and  the  glory  of  Christ'  " 

That  great  parent  of  Bible  societies 
(the  British  and  Foreign),  having  for  its 
object  to  give  the  Holy  Scriptures  to  all 
the  world,  originated  mainly  through 
the  efforts  of  a  Baptist  minister.  Rev. 
Joseph  Hughes,  of  Battersea,  near  Lon- 
don. The  translation  and  dissemination 
of  the  word  of  God  has  always  formed  an 
important  part  of  the  work  done  by  Bap- 
tists, and  they  have  brought  to  it  a  devo- 
tion not  surpassed  by  any.  The  London 
"  Quarterly  Review,"  referring  in  1809 
to  the  labors  of  Carey  and  his  friends  in 
India,  said :  "  In  fourteen  years  they  have 
done  more  toward  spreading  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Scriptures  among  the  heathen 
than  all  the  world  besides." 

Among  the  earliest,  if  not  the  very 
earliest,  evangelical  Christian  churches 
in  Bengal,  Burma,  Siam,  China,  West 
Africa,  and  the  West  Indies,  were  Baptist 
churches.  And  the  standard  of  the  cross 
raised  by  the  faithful  and  fearless  pio- 
neers now  v/aves  over  multitudes  re- 
claimed  from  heathenism. 


IT;i'^l^ 


Mmi 


1  ■•■ 


148 


XIV 


''illl 


statistics,  etc. 

The  increase  of  the  Baptists  is  remark- 
able. For  example:  In  the  United 
States,  in  the  year  1770,  there  were  77 
Baptist  churches ;  there  were  in  1880, 
26,060,  with  2,296,327  members,  that 
is  communicants.  During  the  last  fifty 
years  we  have  gained  nearly  2o,ocx) 
churches,  equivalent  to  more  than  one 
church  every  day  during  all  those  years. 
There  were  baptized  into  the  fellowship 
of  our  churches  in  the  United  States 
during  the  year  1880,  on  a  credible  pro- 
fession of  their  faith,  one  hundred  and  two 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty-four 
persons.  There  were  at  that  date  over 
fifty  churches  of  our  denomination  in  the 
city  of  Philadelphia  alone. 

In  the  Dominion  of  Canada  we  have 
(1880)  710  churches  and  63,822  members ; 
in  Great  Britain,  2,591  churches  and  268,- 
478  members ;  in  the  West  Indies,  158 
churches  and  26,439  members.  There 
are   Baptist    churches   in   nearly  every 


^ii 


149 


country  in  Europe,  including  Russia, 
Austria,  and  Turkey.  In  Germany  there 
are  121  Baptist  churches,  with  25,497 
members ;  in  Sweden,  298  churches  and 
18,851  members. 

In  India  and  Ceylon  we  had,  in  1880, 
147  churches  and  25,488  members;  in 
Burma,  433  churches  and  21,594  mem- 
bers. Including  those  in  all  lands,  we 
obtain  the  following  numbers : 


Churches. 

Europe 3ti35 

Asia.      609 

Africa 56 

America 26,936 

Australasia 162 


Members. 
322.537 

49»oi4 

3.173 
2,386,747 

7,002 


30,898     2,768,473 

[Note. — ^The  foregoing  statistics  were 
gathered  in  1880.  Since  then  there  has 
been  great  increase  in  many  places,  e,g,^ 
there  are  now  (1898) : 

cS^s.  Members. 

In  the  United  States    .    .   .   .43,397  4,055,806 

Continent  of  Europe    ....    1,052  105,652 
India,    including    Assam    and 

Burma 985  105,696 

In  the  United  States,  in  the  year  1897, 
there  were  baptized  into  our  churches 


ISO 


198,432  persons,  and  126  new  churches 
were  constituted]. 

When  we  speak  of  "  members,"  it  does 
not  include  "  adherents,"  or  "  probation- 
ers," or  any  such  classes,  but  actual 
church-members,  communicants,  those 
who  profess  to  be  real  Christians. 

And  these  principles  are  spreading  very 
rapidly,  and  indirectly  affecting  those 
who  will  not  yet  acknowledge  that  they 
are  scriptural.  References  to  the  statis- 
tics of  other  denominations  show  that, 
in  the  United  States  especially,  infant 
baptism  is  gradually  declining,  the  num- 
ber of  adult  baptisms  far  exceeding  that 
of  infants.  It  is  stated  that  therein 
"  not  one  child  in  ten  receives  the  rite." 
Multitudes  are  becoming  convinced  of 
the  unscripturalness  of  such  an  ordi- 
nance; and  conscientious  Christians 
when  they  see  clearly  that  there  is  no 
warrant  for  it  in  God's  word,  will  aban- 
don it.  Large  numbers  of  Pedobaptist 
ministers  from  various  denominations 
every  year  adopt  the  principles  here  ad- 
vocated, and  become  connected  with  the 
Baptist  body. 


(  " 


Vi 


151 

In  view  of  the  prosperity  granted  to  us 
as  a  people,  and  the  prospects  of  still 
greater  triumphs  of  the  truth,  we  will 
but  say,  to  God  be  all  the  praise.  We 
do  not  glory  in  these  things.  We  glory 
"  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ " 
alone  ;  but  we  are  thankful  for  what  God 
has  accomplished  by  his  truth  through 
our  instrumentality. 

As  regards  their  relations  with  other 
Christian  communities,  and  with  their 
fellow-men  in  general.  Baptists  are  not 
open  to  the  charge  sometimes  brought 
against  them,  of  illiberality  or  exclu- 
siveness.  They  are  always  ready  to  co- 
operate with  their  fellow-Christians  of 
other  persuasions,  in  religious  effort,  in 
benevolent  institutions,  in  the  promo- 
tion of  every  enterprise  for  the  mental, 
moral,  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the  world, 
in  every  good  cause,  where  no  compro- 
mise of  principle  is  involved.  They  en- 
tertain sincere  respect  and  love  for  the 
people  of  God  of  every  name,  and  are 
ready  to  manifest  this  Christian  friend- 
ship as  fully  and  unmistakably  as  any, 
but  they  will  not  sacrifice  God's  truth. 


wmm 


I:- 


,  1 


Baptists  are  not,  according  to  the  his- 
torical signification  of  the  term,  Protes- 
tants. They  do  in  reality  protest,  as  their 
predecessors  have  always  done,  against 
all  that  is  unscriptural  in  doctrine  or 
practice,  wherever  it  exists ;  but  Protes- 
tantism, so  called,  is  only  as  old  as  A.  D. 
1529,  when  the  celebrated  Protest  of  cer- 
tain German  States  and  princes  was  made 
at  the  diet  of  Spires.  We  profess  to  be 
real  Protestants,  and  we  stand  side  by 
side,  and  are  one  in  heart,  with  all  evan- 
gelical Christians.  We  say  to  those  who 
came  out  from  the  great  apostasy  at  the 
Reformation,  God  speed  you  and  help 
you  to  do  a  good  work!  You  have 
reason  to  protest  against  the  errors  of 
that  body  from  which  you  came  out,  only 
you  do  not  carry  your  protest  far  enough. 
We  never  were  enclosed  within  Rome's 
pale,  but  we  rejoice  in  the  work  you  are 
doing,  and  would  rejoice  more  fully  if  it 
were  more  thorough.  Oh,  that  the  Re- 
formers had  accomplished  a  complete 
Reformation !  Oh,  that  they  had  left  cer- 
tain things  behind  them  when  they  came 
out!    How  much   more  glorious,  more 


■\ 


^ 


153 

powerful,  and  more  triumphant  would 
the  Reformation  have  been  I  But  it  was 
scarcely  to  be  expected  that  they  could  at 
once  shake  off  all  the  errors  among  which 
they  had  been  reared.  It  was  a  great 
spiritual  resurrection,  and  in  coming 
forth  from  the  tomb  some  of  the  grave- 
clothes  clung  to  them.  How  desirable 
that  their  descendants  should  complete 
the  work  which  they  began,  and  now 
render  the  Reformation  perfect ! 

The  work  of  our  God  shall  stand  for- 
ever. It  may  be  opposed  and  its  holy 
light  obscured  for  a  time,  but  in  the  end 
it  must  be  acknowledged.  The  Bible  is 
the  only  infallible  guide  amid  the  vary- 
ing currents  of  human  opinion.  But  if 
it  is  to  be  our  guide  it  must  be  fully  ac- 
cepted and  implicitly  obeyed.  Neither 
long-standing  custom,  nor  natural  incli- 
nation, nor  self-interest,  nor  the  example 
of  numbers,  nor  any  other  consideration, 
should  be  suffered  for  a  moment  to  stand 
between  us  and  the  hearty  reception  of, 
and  unhesitating  obedience  to,  the  teach- 
ings of  Jesus.  In  God's  book  we  are 
counseled  to  "  buy  the  truth  and  sell  it 


wm 


154 

not."  Oh,  the  truth,  the  truth  of  God, 
what  a  blessed  possession!  Be  it  ours 
to  embrace  and  keep  it  unadulterated  by 
human  opinions  or  traditions,  for  when 
we  appear  before  our  Master^s  throne 
nothing  but  truth  will  stand. 


if/ 


ir^-^'i 


artici.es  of  faith 

AND 

COVENANT 


The  following  are  the  Articles  of  Faith 
which  embody  the  doctrines  generally 
held  by  the  Baptist  churches  of  America, 
and  they  are  substantially  those  of  Bap- 
tists  in  all  lands.  A  few  only  of  the 
proof-texts  under  each  Article  are  noted 
here,  since  to  give  them  all  would  oc- 
cupy much  space.  Following  these  Arti- 
cles is  the  Covenant,  which  is  very  gen- 
erally adopted  by  our  churches,  and  into 
which  each  new  member  voluntarily 
enters. 

I.  THE  SCRIPTURES. 

We  believe  that  the  Holy  Bible  was 
written  by  men  divinely  inspired,  and  is 
a  perfect  treasure  of  heavenly  instruc- 
tion ;  that  it  has  God  for  its  author,  sal- 
vation for  its  end,  and  truth  without  any 
mixture  of  error  for  its  matter ;  that  it 

155 


^m 


i'Mi 


'■'■ : 


;i  '     ^S: 


156 


reveals  the  principles  by  which  God  will 
judge  us ;  and  therefore  is,  and  shall  re- 
main to  the  end  of  the  world,  the  true  cen- 
ter of  Christian  union  and  the  supreme 
standard  by  which  all  human  conduct, 
creeds,  and  opinions  should  be  tried. — 2 
Tim.  3 :  16, 17 ;  2  Peter  1:21;  Isa.  8 :  20. 

II.  THE  TRUE  GOD. 

We  believe  the  Scriptures  teach  that 
there  is  one,  and  only  one  living  and 
true  God,  an  infinite,  intelligent  Spirit, 
whose  name  is  Jehovah,  the  Maker  and 
Ruler  of  heaven  and  earth ;  inexpressi- 
bly glorious  in  holiness,  and  worthy  of 
all  possible  honor,  confidence,  and  love; 
that  in  the  unity  of  the  Godhead  there 
are  three  persons,  the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost;  equal  in  every 
divine  perfection,  and  executing  distinct 
but  harmonious  ofi&ces  in  the  great  work 
of  redemption. — Exod.  34  :  6,  7  ;  Deut. 
6  :  4,  5;  Mark  12  :  30;  Rev.  4  :  11; 
Matt  28  :  19. 

III.  THE  FALL  OF  MAN. 

We  believe  the  Scriptures  teach  that 
man  was  created  in  holiness,  under  the 


157 

law  of  his  Maker;  but  by  voluntary 
transgression  fell  from  that  holy  and 
happy  state ;  in  consequence  of  which 
all  mankind  are  now  sinners,  not  by 
constraint  but  choice,  being  by  nature 
utterly  void  of  that  holiness  required  by 
the  law  of  God,  positively  inclined  to 
evil,  and  therefore  under  just  condemna- 
tion to  eternal  ruin,  without  defense  or 
excuse. — Gen.  i  :  27  ;  Gen.  3 ;  Isa.  53  : 
6;  Rom.  5  :  12-19. 

IV.   THE  WAY  OP  SAI^VATION. 

We  believe  the  Scriptures  teach  that 
the  salvation  of  sinners  is  wholly  of 
grace,  through  the  mediatorial  offices  of 
the  Son  of  God,  who  by  the  appointment 
of  the  Father  freely  took  upon  him  our 
nature,  yet  without  sin,  honored  the 
divine  law  by  his  personal  obedience,  and 
by  his  death  made  a  full  atonement  for 
our  sins,  that  having  risen  from  the  dead 
he  is  now  enthroned  in  heaven,  and 
uniting  in  his  wonderful  person  the  ten- 
derest  sympathies  with  divine  perfec- 
tions, he  is  every  way  qualified  to  be  a 
suitable,  a  compassionate,   and  an  all- 


>58 


I    I 


nI 


sufficient  Saviour. — Isa.  53  :  4,  5  ;  John 
3  :  i6;  Eph.  2:5. 

V.   JUSTIFICATION. 

We  believe  the  Scriptures  teach  that 
the  great  gospel  blessing  which  Christ 
secures  to  such  as  believe  in  him  is  jus- 
tification ;  that  justification  includes  the 
pardon  of  sin  and  the  promise  of  eternal 
life  on  principles  of  righteousness  ;  that 
it  is  bestowed  not  in  consideration  of  any 
works  of  righteousness  which  we  have 
done,  but  solely  through  faith  in  the  Re- 
deemer's blood  ;  by  virtue  of  which  faith 
his  perfect  righteousness  is  freely  im- 
puted to  us  of  God;  that  it  brings  us 
into  a  state  of  most  bksc:ed  peace  and 
favor  with  God,  and  secures  every  other 
blessing  needful  for  l;Ime  and  eternity. — 
Rom.  4  :  4,  5;  S-hih  !/>  if?- 

VI.   THE  FREENESS  OF  SAI^VATION. 

We  believe  the  Scriptures  teach  that 
the  blessings  of  salvation  are  made  free 
to  all  by  the  gospel ;  that  it  is  the  imme- 
diate duty  of  all  to  accept  them  by  a 
cordial,  penitent,  and  obedient  faith  ;  mA 
that  nothing  prevents  the  salvation   of 


■i 


159 

the  greatest  sinner  on  earth  ^  ut  his  own 
determined  depravity  and  voluntary  re- 
jection of  the  gospel,  which  rejection  in- 
volves him  in  an  aggravated  condemna- 
tion.—Isa.  55  :  I ;  John  3:19;  5  =  40 ; 
Rev.  2a  :  17. 

VII.  REGENERATION. 

We  believe  the  Scriptures  teach  that 
in  order  to  be  saved,  sinners  must  be  re- 
generated, or  born  again  ;  that  regenera- 
tion consists  in  giving  a  holy  disposition 
to  the  mind ;  that  it  is  effected  in  a  man- 
ner above  our  comprehension  by  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  connection 
with  divine  truth,  so  as  to  secure  our 
voluntary  obedience  to  the  gospel ;  and 
that  its  proper  evidence  appears  in  the 
holy  fruits  of  repentance  and  faith  and 
newness  of  life. — Ezek.  36  :  26;  John 
3:3;  2  Cor.  5  :  17;  Eph.  5  :  g. 

VIII.    REPENTANCE  AND  FAITH. 

We  believe  the  Scriptures  teach  that 
repentance  and  faith  are  sacred  duties, 
and  also  inseparable  graces,  wrought  in 
our  souls  by  the  regenerating  Spirit  of 
God  ;  whereby  being  deeply  convinced  of 


Mtti 


mm 


'^ 


'    ^i 


|,pW 


i6o 

our  guilt,  danger,  and  helplessness,  and 
of  the  way  of  salvation  by  Christ,  we 
turn  to  God  with  unfeigned  contrition, 
confession,  and  supplication  for  mercy; 
at  the  same  time  heartily  receiving  the 
lyord  Jesus  Christ  as  our  prophet,  priest, 
and  king,  and  relying  on  him  alone  as 
the  only  and  all-sufficient  Saviour. — 
Mark  1:15;  I/uke  15  :  18-21 ;  Acts  2  : 
37,  38;  Rom.  10  :  9-11. 

iXc  god's  purpose  of  grace. 

We  believe  the  Scriptures  teach  that 
election  is  the  eternal  purpose  of  God, 
according  to  which  he  graciously  regen- 
erates, sanctifies,  and  saves  sinners  ;  that 
being  perfectly  consistent  with  the  free 
agency  of  man,  it  comprehends  all  the 
means  in  connection  with  the  end ;  that 
it  is  a  most  glorious  display  of  God*s 
sovereign  goodness,  being  infinitely  free, 
wise,  holy,  and  unchangeable;  that  it 
utterly  excludes  boasting,  and  promotes 
humility,  love,  prayer,  praise,  trust  in 
God,  and  active  imitation  of  his  free 
mercy;  that  it  encourages  the  use  of 
meatus  in  the  highest  degree ;  that  it  may 


■p      1! 


i6i 

be  ascertained  by  its  effects  in  all  who 
truly  believe  the  gospel;  that  it  is  the 
foundation  of  Christian  assurance ;  and 
that  to  ascertain  it  with  regard  to  our- 
selves demands  and  deserves  the  utmost 
diligence.— Exod.  33  :  19 ;  Rom.  8  :  28- 
31 ;  2  Thess.  2  :  13,  14 ;  2  Tim.  i  :  8,  9. 

X.   SANCTIFICATION. 

We  believe  the  Scriptures  teach  that 
sanctification  is  the  process  by  which, 
according  to  the  will  of  God,  we  are 
•  made  partakers  of  his  holiness ;  that  it 
is  a  progressive  work ;  that  it  is  begun 
in  regeneration  ;  and  that  it  is  carried  on 
in  the  hearts  of  believers  by  the  presence 
and  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Sealer 
and  Comforter,  in  the  continual  use  of 
the  appointed  means — especially  the 
word  of  God,  self-examination,  self-de- 
nial, watchfulness,  and  prayer.— Prov. 
4  :  18;  Rom.  8:5;!  Thess.  4  :  3;  5,  23. 

XI.  PERSEVERANCE  OF  SAINTS. 

We  believe  the  Scriptures  teach  that 
such  only  are  real  believers  as  endure 
unto  the  end ;  that  their  persevering  at- 
tachment to  Christ  is  the  grand  mark 


l62 


1     1 


'  ''<H! 

■m 


■  t 


which  distinguishes  them  from  super- 
ficial professors;  that  a  special  provi- 
dence watches  over  their  welfare,  and 
that  they  are  kept  by  the  power  of  God 
through  faith  unto  salvation. — ^John  8  : 
31 ;  lo  :  27-29;  Phil,  i  :  6 ;  i  John  2  :  19. 

XII.   THE  I*AW  AND  GOSPEL. 

We  believe  the  Scriptures  teach  that 
the  law  of  God  is  the  eternal  and  un- 
changeable jule  of  his  moral  govern- 
ment ;  that  it  is  holy,  just,  and  good ;  and 
that  the  inability  which  the  Scriptures 
ascribe  to  fallen  men  to  fulfill  its  pre- 
cepts, arises  entirely  from  their  love  of 
sin  ;  to  deliver  them  from  which,  and  to 
restore  them  through  a  Mediator  to  un- 
feigned obedience  to  the  holy  law,  is  one 
great  end  of  the  gospel  and  of  the  means 
of  grace  connected  with  the  establish- 
ment of  the  visible  church. — Luke  16  : 
17  ;  Rom.  3  :  31 ;  7  :  12  ;  8  :  2,  4  ;  Gal. 
3  •  21. 

XIII.   A  GOSPEL  CHURCH. 

We  believe  the  Scriptures  teach  that 
a  visible  church  of  Christ  is  a  congrega- 
tion of  baptized  believers,  associated  by 


163 

covenant  in  the  faith  and  fellowship  of 
the  gospel,  observing  the  ordinances  of 
Christ,  governed  by  his  laws,  and  e:er- 
cising  the  gifts,  rights,  and  privile::eu  in- 
vested in  them  by  his  word  ;  that  its  only 
scriptural  offices  are  bishops  or  pastors, 
and  deacons,  whose  qualifications,  claims, 
and  duties  are  defined  in  the  Epistles  to 
Timothy  and  Titus. — Matt.  28  :  19,  20; 
Acts  2  :  41,  42  ;  Phil,  i  :  i  ;  i  Tim.  3 ; 
Titus  I. 


XIV.    BAPTISM  AND  THE   LORD'S  SUPPER. 

We  believe  the  Scriptures  teach  that 
Christian  baptism  is  the  immersion  in 
water  of  a  believer,  into  the  name  of  the 
Father  and  Son  and  Holy  Spirit,  to  show 
forth  in  a  solemn  and  beautiful  emblem, 
our  faith  in  the  crucified,  buried,  and  risen 
Saviour,  with  its  efiFect  in  our  death  to 
sin  and  resurrection  to  a  new  life ;  that 
it  is  prerequisite  to  the  privileges  of  a 
church  relation  and  to  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, in  which  the  members  of  the  church, 
by  the  sacred  use  of  bread  and  wine,  are 
to  commemorate  together  the  dying  love 
of    Christ,   preceded  always  by  solemn 


!  Hi 


■\  l;,^«»" 


."] 


r.'i 


164 

self-examination.  —  Matt.  28  :  19,  20-, 
Acts  2  :  41,  42 ;  8  :  12  ;  8  :  36-39 ;  Rom. 
6:4;  Matt.  26  :  26-29. 

XV.   THE  CHRISTIAN  SABBATH. 

We  believe  the  Scriptures  teach  that 
the  first  day  of  the  week  is  the  Lord's 
Day,  or  Christian  Sabbath,  and  is  to  be 
kept  sacred  to  religious  purposes,  by  ab- 
staining from  all  secular  labor  and 
worldly  recreation,  by  the  devout  ob- 
servance of  all  the  means  of  grace,  both 
private  and  public,  and  by  preparation 
for  that  rest  that  remaineth  for  the  peo- 
ple of  God. — Exod.  20  :  8 ;  Isa.  58  :  13, 
14 ;  John  20 :  i,  19,  26 ;  Acts  20 : 7  ;  Heb. 
10  :  25 ;  Rev.  i  :  10. 

XVI.   CIVIL  GOVERNMENT. 

"We  believe  the  Scriptures  teach  that 
civil  government  is  of  divine  appoint- 
ment, for  the  interest  and  good  order  of 
human  society,  and  that  magistrates  are 
to  be  prayed  for,  conscientiously  honored 
and  obeyed,  except  only  in  things  op- 
posed to  the  will  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who  is  the  only  Lord  of  the  con- 
science and  the  Prince  of  the  kings  of 


i65 

the  earth.—Matt.  22  :  21 ;  Rom.  13  :  i- 
7 ;  Acts  5  :  29 ;  Dan.  3  :  16-18. 

XVII.   RIGHTEOUS  AND  WICKED. 

We  believe  the  Scriptures  teach  that 
there  is  a  radical  and  essential  difference 
between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked ; 
that  such  only  as  through  faith  are  justi- 
fied in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 
sanctified  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God,  are 
truly  righteous  in  his  esteem  ;  while  all 
such  as  continue  in  impenitence  and 
unbelief  are  in  his  sight  wicked,  and  un- 
der the  curse ;  and  this  distinction  holds 
among  men  both  in  and  after  death. — 
Mai.  3  :  18 ;  Matt.  25  :  46  ;  i  John  5 :  19. 

XVIII.   THE  WORI.D  TO  COME. 

We  believe  the  Scriptures  teach  that 
the  end  of  the  world  is  approaching; 
that  at  the  last  day  Christ  will  descend 
from  heaven,  and  raise  the  dead  from 
the  grave  for  final  retribution;  that  a 
solemn  separation  will  then  take  place ; 
that  the  wicked  will  be  adjudged  to 
endless  punishment,  and  the  righteous 
to  endless  joys,  and  that  this  judgment 
will  fix  forever  the  final  state  of  men  in 


m 


i66 


heaven  or  hell,  on  principles  of  right- 
eousness.— Matt.  25  :  13;  Acts  i  :  11 ;  i 
Thess.  4  :  13-18 ;  John  5  :  28,  29. 

COVENANT. 

Having  been,  as  we  trust:,  brought  by 
divine  grace  to  embrace  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  to  give  ourselves  wholly  to 
him,  we  do  now  solemnly  and  joyfully 
covenant  with  each  other  to  walk  to- 
gether in  him,  with  brotherly  love,  to 
his  glory,  as  our  common  Lord.  We  do 
therefore,  in  his  strength,  engage — 

That  we  will  exercise  a  Christian  care 
and  watchfulness  over  each  other,  and 
faithfully  warn,  exhort,  and  admonish 
each  other,  as  occasion  may  require. 

That  we  will  not  forsake  the  assem- 
bling of  ourselves  together,  but  will  up- 
hold the  public  worship  of  God,  and  the 
ordinances  of  his  house. 

That  we  will  not  omit  closet  and  fam- 
ily religion  at  home,  nor  neglect  the 
great  duty  of  religiously  trainiiig  our 
children,  and  those  under  our  care,  for 
the  service  of  Christ,  and  the  enjoyment 
of  heaven. 


I 


167 

That,  as  Christians  are  the  light  of  the 
world  and  salt  of  the  earth,  we  will  seek 
divine  aid  to  enable  us  to  deny  ungodli- 
ness, and  every  worldly  luLt,  and  to  walk 
circumspectly  in  the  world,  that  we  may 
win  the  souls  of  men. 

That  we  will  cheerfully  contribute  of 
our  property,  according  as  God  has  pros- 
pered us,  for  the  maintenance  of  a  faith- 
ful and  evangelical  ministry  among  us, 
for  the  support  of  the  poor,  and  to  spread 
the  gospel  over  the  earth. 

That  we  will,  in  all  conditions,  even 
till  death,  strive  to  live  to  the  glory  of 
him  who  hath  called  us  out  of  darkness 
into  his  marvelous  light. 


"And  may  the  God  of  peace,  who 
brought  again  from  the  dead  our  L^ord 
Jesus,  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep, 
through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting 
covenant,  make  us  perfect  in  every  good 
work,  to  do  his  will,  working  in  us  that 
which  is  well  pleasing  in  his  sight, 
through  Jesus  Christ,  to  whom  be  glory 
for  ever  and  ever.     Amen." 


